Pump failure forces evacuation of Lisle office building

A pump failure Wednesday morning in the cooling system of a Lisle office building forced between 60 and 70 people to be evacuated and drew a hazardous materials team response from several area fire departments.

A cloud of smoke created by a leaking pump on the first floor of the building at 1001 Warrenville Road in the Arboretum Lakes development set off a fire alarm about 7:30 a.m., authorities said.

Pellets of a chemical called bromide, which Lisle-Woodridge Bureau Chief Jim French said is similar to swimming pool chlorine, normally are used in the building’s cooling system and had been added to the pump that failed.

French said bromide is not a hazardous material, but fire crews arriving on the scene evacuated workers from the five-story building and began ventilating it. They shut down the cooling system and set up fans for circulation and air monitoring equipment to ensure safety, he said.

No office workers or firefighters were injured in the evacuation and subsequent cleanup.

“We actually just completed evacuation training here with all the building tenants less than two weeks ago,” French said.

Building managers were on scene about 10 a.m. Wednesday. French said they planned to have a company that maintains the cooling system evaluate it and fix the leaky pump before deciding when to reopen the building. French said it should be operational by Thursday morning.

Response to the alarm came from a joint team that includes the Lisle-Woodridge, Naperville, Downers Grove and Bolingbrook fire departments.