Campus Alert Archive
Mount Mercy

A Faulty Lab Refrigerator Leaks and Empties the Donnelly Center

IAchemical spillemergency notificationmedium confidence

A chemical leak from a faulty refrigerator in a lab at Mount Mercy University's Donnelly Center in Cedar Rapids drew a Cedar Rapids Fire Department hazmat response just after 3 PM on September 30, 2024. The building had been evacuated before crews arrived, and no injuries were reported with all students and staff accounted for within minutes.

Alerts
2
Response
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Killed
—
Injured
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Institution
Mount Mercy University
Private Liberal Arts · IA
Mount Mercy Alert
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

2 messages in sequence

Some alert texts below are approximate reconstructions from news coverage, not confirmed verbatim transcripts. Reconstructed texts are shown in italic with a dashed border. Verified verbatim texts have a solid border and are marked accordingly.

INITIAL ALERTmulti-channel
Approximate reconstruction157 chars
Mount Mercy Alert: A possible hazmat incident has been reported in the Donnelly Center. The building has been evacuated. Avoid the area until further notice.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Reconstructed paraphrase: outlets reported the building had been evacuated before the Cedar Rapids Fire Department arrived at about 3:10 PM CDT, implying a fast internal alert, but no verbatim alert text was published.
The leak source was a faulty laboratory refrigerator, a reminder that lab cold-storage equipment failures are a recurring chemical-release pathway.
ALL CLEARmulti-channel
Approximate reconstruction154 chars
The hazmat incident at the Donnelly Center has been resolved. Crews have removed the chemical and ventilated the building. Normal operations have resumed.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Reconstructed close-paraphrase: reporting confirmed crews removed the chemical and faulty refrigerator and ventilated all three floors before returning the building to normal, but no verbatim all-clear was published.
This is a genuine all-clear because it states the chemical was removed and normal operations resumed, lifting the avoid-the-area instruction.
Context

Background

Just after 3 PM CDT on Monday, September 30, 2024, the Cedar Rapids Fire Department was called to the Donnelly Center on Mount Mercy University's campus for a possible hazmat incident, CBS2 Iowa reported. Arriving crews located a chemical leak coming from a faulty refrigerator in a lab; the building had already been evacuated, and the chemical was not dangerous but produced a strong odor. KCJJ reported that no injuries occurred and that all students and staff were accounted for within the first few minutes. Hazmat teams removed the chemical and the faulty refrigerator and ventilated all three floors before returning the building to normal operations.
Analysis

Key Findings

The release originated from a failing lab refrigerator rather than an experiment, highlighting equipment failure as a chemical-release pathway
The building was evacuated before fire crews arrived just after 3 PM CDT, indicating an effective internal alert
No injuries occurred and everyone was accounted for within minutes; the chemical was a strong-odor but non-dangerous substance
A small private liberal-arts campus relied on the municipal Cedar Rapids hazmat team for the response
Outcome
Hazmat crews removed the chemical and the faulty refrigerator and ventilated all three floors. No injuries were reported and everyone was accounted for; the building returned to normal operations after ventilation.
Provenance

Sources

  1. News
    Cedar Rapids HAZMAT team handles chemical spill at local university - CBS2 Iowa
    cbs2iowa.com
  2. News
    Cedar Rapids Fire Department responds to HAZMAT incident at Mount Mercy University - The Mighty 1630 KCJJ
    1630kcjj.com
Tags
chemical-spillhazmatlab-safetyrefrigerator-leakiowaliberal-artsemergency-notification
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion