Akasofu Building, IARC reopen

Submitted by Marmian Grimes
Phone: (907) 474-7902
05/30/07

Employees at the International Arctic Research Center returned to work Wednesday after a small electrical fire cut power to the Akasofu Building Monday night. Electricians restored power to the building, which houses IARC, at about 6:45 p.m. Tuesday and employees were able to return Wednesday morning. The building’s electrical system is not yet able to carry a full load, which means cooling systems can only run at partial power. UAF Facilities Services has a part on order to fix the problem and will make additional repairs when it arrives later this summer. Scientific experiments and instruments appear to have weathered the outage with little to no damage.

The fire was confined to the electrical room on the first floor and was the result of an electrical fault--an arc flash--in the building’s main distribution panel at about 11:30 p.m. on Monday, May 28. An arc flash typically happens when electrical insulation is broken or can no longer withstand the voltage running through the wires underneath it.

The fire went out on its own almost immediately. Fire and smoke damage is minimal. The cause of the electrical fault is still under investigation.

A maintenance crew from UAF Facilities Services had been working on the electrical system since about 2 p.m. on Monday, after reports of power outages in the building. Three workers were in the electrical room when the arc flash occurred. All of the workers safely exited the room. There were no injuries. Crews from the University Fire Department responded and cleared smoke from the first floor of the building. Most of the building’s employees were told not to come to work on Tuesday due to the blackout.

CONTACT: Marmian Grimes, UAF public information officer, at (907) 474-7902 or via e-mail at marmian.grimes@uaf.edu. Jenny Barrett, Facilities Services public information officer, at (907) 474-5903 or via e-mail at jbarrett@fs.uaf.edu.