A rupture in a steam line in South Campus' Crosby Hall on Wednesday afternoon left one employee dead and classes in the hall suspended until further notice.
According to the UB News Bureau, the employee has been identified as 48-year-old David L. Shrader, a stationary engineering employee. Shrader had worked for the university for 25 years.
Michael Dupre, associate vice president for University Facilities, said Shrader was in the basement of Crosby at the time of the blast.
"There was a steamer line break, we don't know what caused it," Dupre said. "He was in the room working. We don't know if there was equipment failure (or) if there was a procedural issue."
Though the university is unsure of the cause of the accident, it will conduct an investigation to determine the origin, said Dupre.
"We'll have independent companies come in here, and they'll look at the safety aspects, and they'll also look at the mechanical failures and try and determine a cause," said Dupre.
The explosion occurred at approximately 1:30 p.m., just as third-year architecture students were gearing up for a mid-semester critique.
"The first guy was presenting, and halfway through his presentation, it was like 'boom,' and then the boom didn't stop," said Rich Baker, a junior architecture student. "We thought it was nothing, but then there was the steam."
Baker said the steam billowed up three flights of stairs, making it difficult for students to see as they filed outside.
Students watched outside as condensation formed on Crosby's windows, wondering if the steam would ruin their models and drawings, said Baker.
Jim Maurer, a junior architecture student, said professors tried to yell to the students, but their voices and the fire alarms were muffled by the noise.
"It was just like this big bang and then this really loud 'woosh,' - this continuously whooshing sound," Maurer said. "It was honestly really hard to hear over the sound of the steam."
Maurer said the students waited outside the building for about 20 minutes before they received word that Shrader had died.
"Everything kind of pales in comparison to that poor guy," Maurer said. "You can replace papers and models, that's not such a huge deal, but that fact that somebody was killed - that's really horrible."
Many students were left outside without keys or personal belongings Wednesday afternoon. Officials told them to go home and wait for further instructions, said Maurer.
After about two hours, students received an e-mail instructing them to return to Crosby, where University Police officers accompanied students to their studios to collect their belongings.
President William R. Greiner said security measures were strict because of concerns over safety in the building, but that University Police and University Facilities responded very quickly to the scene.
"People always analogize us to a small city - which we are - and occasionally we have things like this happen, and there's a regular, you know, sort of SWAT team that just moves in," said Greiner.
Crosby Hall will be shut down through Sunday. Architecture students should call 829-3485 for more information on the date of reopening.
"The building is closed down primarily because I think the cladding on the steam pipes is asbestos and so (university officials) are concerned that there might be asbestos in the air," said Greiner.
