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ALBANY, GA --
The Albany Fire Department Hazardous Materials Response Team, EMS officials and Albany State University police officials were on the scene at a hazmat situation on the Albany State University campus Friday afternoon that occurred around 12 PM.

ASU campus police decided to evacuate the building by setting off the fire alarm.

Battalion Chief Daniel Potter said they originally received a call from ASU officials saying that a person had minor irritation and nausea to a chemical in the ACAD building and wanted the hazmat team to come out and make sure that it was not going to spread and affect staff and students in the building.

The building was evacuated and a hazmat station was setup on the campus, taking about 45 minutes.

At around 1 PM, two men in hazmat gear entered the building to asses the situation as a result of strong odor occurring when two assistants and a professor were in a lab working with chemicals when they started to notice the odor.

The men found a stain on the ground, but they can't confirm that it was a chemical spill.

Potter says they cannot confirm what the chemical is at this point, but a second team was sent in after the first came out as a fresh pair of eyes on the situation.

EMS officials also responded to treat the staff member suffering from irritation and nausea as three others drove themselves to the hospital for treatment.

Albany State officials say they decided to err on the side of caution because with dozens of other people in the building they wanted to make sure no on else was going to fall ill. After determining there was no threat, the building was reopened to students and staff.

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