Small fire contained at UQ Hawken Building

Small fire contained at UQ Hawken Building

Queensland Fire Services officers were called today at 10.15 am to a small fire which broke out in a ground floor laboratory of the five-storey wing of the Hawken engineering building at St Lucia.

University Secretary and Registrar Douglas Porter said the fire was quickly contained to the laboratory and building occupants safely evacuated.

"The sole student in the laboratory at the time of the fire, and a University Security officer who attended the scene were taken to University Health Service for observation, but were subsequently released," he said.

"Fortunately, second semester classes have finished, minimising the number of people in the area."

The laboratory is used by members of the University's award-winning solar vehicle, SunShark, which recently placed third in the World Solar Challenge from Darwin to Adelaide.

The SunShark was not in the laboratory and was undamaged in the fire, believed to have been caused by an electrical fault.

Further information: Douglas Porter, telephone 07 3365 1310.