At 2:15a.m. on Friday, September 20th, the sprinkler system went off in the ACRL (Aluminum Casting Research Lab), on the ground floor of the Washburn Laboratories. The sprinklers went off while a graduate student from WPI melted aluminum in the laboratory.
The graduate student was apparently melting aluminum when he removed the cover for the ventilation system. As the heat from the melting aluminum rose it triggered off the sprinkler system. The automated sprinkler system is "set to go off at a temperature of around 165 Degrees F" said David Messier, Manager of the Chemistry Lab, Goddard Hall. Upon further questioning he added, "Plant Services are considering a few options to assure this doesn't happen again".