By CRAIG FREILICH

CANTON –Fire investigators are trying to find the cause of an explosion and fire in a science laboratory at SUNY Canton on Friday.

As a precaution, the school has canceled classes this week, to ensure that buildings and the air in them is safe.

The fire was at the center of the SUNY Canton campus in Cook Hall, starting as a chemical fire in the lab.

The alarm went out at about 11:45 a.m. Friday, and a reported 10 fire departments and a hazardous-materials team responded.

Cook Hall, the attached Faculty Office Building, and other nearby buildings, including Payson Hall, Southworth Library, Wicks Hall and the Miler Campus Center, were all evacuated, not necessarily because of any imminent fire danger, but because "we just didn't want anybody threatened by smoke," SUNY Canton spokesman Randy Sieminki said.

Sieminski said that early reports of the fire spreading to other buildings were not borne out, but he did not rule out damage to neighboring buildings.

There were no reports of injuries.

Although the origin of the fire has apparently been placed at the lab, why it happened is still being looked into.

Classes are to resume Monday, Feb. 20.

“It was increasingly clear that to be prudent we should send students home rather than wait for test results to come back.” And along with other buildings where smoke was a consideration, with two residence halls closed, “it also would have been a challenge to house everyone in just three residence halls.”

“Every sort of test is going on to insure safety,” Sieminski said.

Touring some of the buildings where smoke might have entered,

Sieminski said “the ‘eye test’ looks pretty good, and the ‘smell test’ seems good too,” and filed tests taken have come back with a good result. But more tests have been taken and are being analyzed.”

“We’re talking about people’s lives, and we want to be sure the buildings are safe to occupy,” Sieminski said.

Cook Hall, Faculty Office Building, Wicks Hall, Payson Hall, Miller Campus Center, Heritage Hall and Rushton Hall remain closed. In fact, locks have been changed for all impacted buildings.

There is limited access to Southworth Library because it is being utilized as the Incident Command Center.

Staff are to be advised of alternative workplace assignments.

Students will be allowed back into the buildings on Sunday, Feb. 19, as long as the test results come back indicating it is safe.

“We received tremendous support from the Canton and Ogdensburg fire departments, and from St. Lawrence County Emergency Services,” Sieminski said.

He said the “response by folks from New York State agencies was exceptional,” citing Emergency Management, General Services, Health, Environmental Conservation departments and offices.

“We’re following their lead,” Sieminki said. “It’s great to have those experts on hand to give us aid.”