The Radical Reading Room

A fire at the Savannah River National Laboratory near Aiken, South Carolina, prompted an emergency declaration on Wednesday evening, Oct. 28, according to the supplied reports. The laboratory is part of the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site. The fire was reported at about 5:39 p.m. Eastern, and the emergency response followed shortly after 5:30 p.m., according to reporting by the Washington Examiner.

The Savannah River Site said the fire had been extinguished. Fox News also reported that crews put it out roughly two hours after it was reported. The available accounts do not give a more precise time for when the blaze was fully extinguished, but they agree it was no longer burning by the time the reports were published that evening.

Officials said there was no indication of contamination beyond the site’s boundaries. Just the News reported no contamination outside the affected facility, while the Washington Examiner and Fox News likewise described no reported contamination beyond the site or affected area. The reports do not establish whether contamination was present inside the facility.

The cause of the fire had not been identified in the supplied accounts. The reports also do not describe damage or provide further details about the fire’s origin. The emergency declaration and extinguishing of the blaze are documented; the sources offer no indication that the fire resulted in contamination beyond the site boundaries.