Explosion at Georgia Gwinnett College Seriously Injures Worker

LAWRENCEVILLE, GA -- An explosion at Georgia Gwinnett College that went off after firefighters responded to a fire alarm seriously injured a campus worker Monday morning.

Gwinnett County Fire and Emergency Services said the explosion, which came from a women's bathroom in classroom Building A, caused "burns and potential blast injuries" to a woman who works for a food contractor on campus.

The woman is expected to survive, fire officials said.

All students on campus were safe, the department said in a news release.

In a post on Twitter, the college said classes scheduled in Building A on Monday were canceled. Classes beginning at 6:30 p.m. or later may be held at different locations.

According to the news release, firefighters were called to the building at 7:41 a.m. to answer a fire alarm.

"On arrival, nothing was showing and the building had been evacuated by staff and Georgia Gwinnett College Police," Deputy Chief Charles Wells said in the release. "There was no smoke or fire located in the building."

But, as rescue workers were preparing to leave, the explosion went off, Wells said.

Gwinnett Fire, Georgia Gwinnett College officials and multiple law enforcement and public utility agencies, including the FBI and ATF, were working Monday to determine the cause of the explosion.

In a statement Monday afternoon, Georgia Gwinnett President Stas Preczewski said investigators do not currently suspect foul play in the explosion.

"Their preliminary investigations and all testing of materials throughout the site failed to indicate the presence of an explosive device, as of this point in the investigation ...," Preczewski said. "It may take some time to determine the exact cause, if one can be found."

He said initial theories centered around "a potential build-up of gases in a sewer line which were triggered by an unknown spark or flame."

Building A houses classes from all different disciplines, including science labs, education and liberal arts classes, and a food court.

Due to the incident, several other buildings on campus were without IT capabilities Monday morning, the school tweeted. Those buildings are Buildings A, D, F, I, P and the parking deck. Campus phones were inoperable, as of shortly after 10 a.m.

Access to the campus via Collins Industrial Way/Collins Hill Rd. was closed until further notice. All other access roads to the campus remained open.

Employees who work in Building A were being instructed to report to the Large Venue Interactive Space (LVIS) area. Classes in other buildings were going ahead as scheduled, the college announced.

Preczewski said the injured worker is employed by food contractor Aramark. She is recovering at Grady Memorial Hospital, he said.