The Soudan Underground Laboratory, operated by the University of Minnesota, is currently being threatened by a fire in a mine shaft above the actual lab.
The fire, determined by the Department of Natural Resources to be between the 23rd and 25th floor of the mine, is burning mine timbers. Officials are seeking specially trained crews with expertise in battling underground fires to combat the fire, according to the Star Tribune.
Power has been shut off to the entire lab, which conducts high-energy physics experiments. This could lead to flooding in the lab space as the pumps that usually drive out water is shut off in the lab.
The Minnesota Daily visited the physics lab located on the 27th floor of the defunct, iron mine this past January.
