{
  "id": "2014-06-17-university-of-minnesota-smith-hall-explosion",
  "slug": "university-of-minnesota-smith-hall-explosion-2014-06-17",
  "institution": {
    "name": "University of Minnesota Twin Cities",
    "shortName": "UMN",
    "state": "MN",
    "type": "public-r1",
    "alertSystemName": "SAFE-U",
    "enrollment": 52000
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2014-06-17",
    "type": "hazmat",
    "cleryCategory": "emergency-notification",
    "headline": "A solvent swap during an azide synthesis blows out a fume hood, injuring a grad student",
    "headlinePublic": "A solvent swap during an azide synthesis blows out a fume hood, injuring a grad student",
    "summary": "On the afternoon of June 17, 2014, a [fifth-year University of Minnesota chemistry graduate student was burned and cut](https://www.startribune.com/small-explosion-at-u-lab-leaves-grad-student-with-serious-burns/263513131) when his attempted synthesis of [trimethylsilyl azide (TMS-azide)](https://www-chem.ucsd.edu/safety/lessonslearned/trimethylazide.html) detonated inside a fume hood on the fourth floor of [Smith Hall](https://mndaily.com/uncategorized/graduate-student-injured-smith-hall-explosion/06/17/2014/snoadmin/). The student had scaled up from published procedures to a 200 g batch and substituted polyethylene glycol (PEG) for the original solvent. The blast shattered all four sides of the fume hood, damaged an adjacent hood, and blew out an exterior window.",
    "outcome": "Graduate student Walter Partlo was transported to Hennepin County Medical Center with second-degree burns and lacerations from flying glass; he was released within days and returned to work the following week. No other personnel were injured. The University of Minnesota Department of Chemistry, led by chair William Tolman, conducted an internal investigation and disseminated a detailed lessons-learned report through the DCHAS-L mailing list and the CSHEMA community. The incident prompted a department-wide review of standard operating procedures for azide chemistry and informed lab safety practice nationally.",
    "resolution": "confirmed-threat",
    "casualties": {
      "killed": 0,
      "injured": 1
    }
  },
  "alerts": [
    {
      "sequence": 1,
      "type": "initial",
      "timestamp": "2014-06-17T13:07:00-05:00",
      "channel": "sms",
      "verbatimText": "U of M Twin Cities: CHEMICALSPILL/SMITH HALL 207 PLEASANT ST SE..IF YOU ARE IN THIS BUILDING NEED TO EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY AND AVOID THE AREA.... updates and safety tips at z.umn.edu/alerts",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://publicsafety.umn.edu/safe-u-emergency-147",
      "sourceDescription": "UMN Department of Public Safety SAFE-U Emergency archive (exact Everbridge message text)",
      "annotations": [
        "Exact SAFE-U/Everbridge text preserved including CHEMICALSPILL/ all-caps path style and double periods",
        "Canonical archive URL: publicsafety.umn.edu/safe-u-emergency-147 (node/791)"
      ],
      "characterCount": 188
    },
    {
      "sequence": 2,
      "type": "update",
      "timestampApprox": "Mid-afternoon on June 17, 2014",
      "channel": "email",
      "verbatimText": "",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": false,
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.mprnews.org/story/2014/06/17/u-of-m-chemistry-lab-explosion-injures-one",
      "sourceDescription": "Reconstructed from MPR News and Minnesota Daily reporting on the UMN response to the June 17, 2014 Smith Hall explosion",
      "annotations": []
    },
    {
      "sequence": 3,
      "type": "all-clear",
      "timestampApprox": "Late afternoon on June 17, 2014",
      "channel": "sms",
      "verbatimText": "",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": false,
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.ilpi.com/dchas/2014/20140718i.html",
      "sourceDescription": "Reconstructed from DCHAS-L incident summary posted by UMN Chemistry chair William Tolman on July 18, 2014",
      "annotations": []
    }
  ],
  "context": "On the afternoon of June 17, 2014, fifth-year chemistry graduate student Walter Partlo was working in a fourth-floor lab in the University of Minnesota's [Smith Hall](https://mndaily.com/uncategorized/graduate-student-injured-smith-hall-explosion/06/17/2014/snoadmin/) when his preparation of [trimethylsilyl azide (TMS-azide)](https://www-chem.ucsd.edu/safety/lessonslearned/trimethylazide.html) detonated inside a fume hood. Partlo had scaled up from a [published procedure](https://www.ilpi.com/dchas/2014/20140718i.html) starting from 200 g of sodium azide and had substituted polyethylene glycol (PEG) for the original solvent because the original solvent had been clumping. The solvent change introduced a critical hazard: PEG is a protic solvent that can react with azide to liberate hydrazoic acid, an explosively unstable compound. The blast shattered all four sides of the fume hood, damaged an adjacent hood, and [blew out a window on the building's exterior](https://www.startribune.com/small-explosion-at-u-lab-leaves-grad-student-with-serious-burns/263513131). Partlo was transported to Hennepin County Medical Center with second-degree burns and glass-laceration injuries; he was released within days. UMN Department of Public Safety issued a [SAFE-U emergency alert](https://publicsafety.umn.edu/node/791) and Smith Hall's affected floor was closed pending an Environmental Health and Safety investigation. Department chair [William Tolman published a detailed lessons-learned report on the DCHAS-L mailing list on July 18, 2014](https://www.ilpi.com/dchas/2014/20140718i.html), an unusually transparent academic disclosure that was widely praised in the post-Texas-Tech, post-Sangji era of lab safety reform. The incident generated [safety alerts at peer institutions](https://riskmanagement.nd.edu/assets/444870/university_of_minnesota_lab_accident.pdf) including the University of Notre Dame.",
  "keyFindings": [
    "The proximate cause was a scale-up combined with an undocumented solvent substitution; the underlying cause was lack of hazard awareness about how PEG could react with the azide intermediate to form explosive hydrazoic acid",
    "UMN Chemistry chair William Tolman's decision to publish a detailed lessons-learned summary on DCHAS-L set a new transparency standard for academic lab incident disclosure in the wake of the Texas Tech CSB investigation",
    "The SAFE-U system, which had been the model for UMN emergency notification since 2009, was activated within minutes; the building reopened the same evening"
  ],
  "responseTimeMinutes": 7,
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "Smith Hall explosion injures one (Minnesota Daily, June 17, 2014)",
      "url": "https://mndaily.com/uncategorized/graduate-student-injured-smith-hall-explosion/06/17/2014/snoadmin/",
      "type": "student-newspaper"
    },
    {
      "title": "Small explosion at U lab leaves grad student with serious burns (Star Tribune)",
      "url": "https://www.startribune.com/small-explosion-at-u-lab-leaves-grad-student-with-serious-burns/263513131",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "U of M chemistry lab explosion injures one (MPR News)",
      "url": "https://www.mprnews.org/story/2014/06/17/u-of-m-chemistry-lab-explosion-injures-one",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Trimethylsilyl azide explosion and injury incident at University of Minnesota (DCHAS-L, William Tolman)",
      "url": "https://www.ilpi.com/dchas/2014/20140718i.html",
      "type": "after-action-report"
    },
    {
      "title": "Trimethylazide lessons learned (UCSD Chemistry safety page)",
      "url": "https://www-chem.ucsd.edu/safety/lessonslearned/trimethylazide.html",
      "type": "other"
    },
    {
      "title": "Safety Alert: University of Minnesota Lab Accident (Notre Dame Risk Management)",
      "url": "https://riskmanagement.nd.edu/assets/444870/university_of_minnesota_lab_accident.pdf",
      "type": "after-action-report"
    },
    {
      "title": "SAFE-U Emergency (UMN Department of Public Safety)",
      "url": "https://publicsafety.umn.edu/node/791",
      "type": "official-archive"
    },
    {
      "title": "SAFE-U EMERGENCY — Smith Hall chemical spill (UMN DPS)",
      "url": "https://publicsafety.umn.edu/safe-u-emergency-147",
      "type": "official-archive",
      "accessDate": "2026-07-18"
    }
  ],
  "confidence": "high",
  "tags": [
    "lab-explosion",
    "trimethylsilyl-azide",
    "smith-hall",
    "safe-u",
    "academic-lab-safety",
    "umn",
    "fume-hood-failure",
    "solvent-substitution",
    "tolman",
    "dchas-l"
  ],
  "dateAdded": "2026-05-13",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-07-18",
  "addedBy": "ingestion"
}