HANOVER — A Geisel School of Medicine building is closed due to significant smoke and water damage incurred in a fire on Sunday morning, according to Dartmouth News.

Firefighters responded to a fire alarm at the Remsen Medical Science Building at 66 College St. at 7:10 a.m. on Sunday, according to a news release from the Hanover Fire Department. Once there, they found “a moderate smoke condition” on the eight-story building’s seventh floor.

The source of the fire was in a large science lab, used for circadian rhythms research, where firefighters found “heavy smoke” and several activated sprinkler heads, which caused “near zero visibility.”

The firefighters quickly extinguished the flames, but the lab sustained significant damage from the smoke and water. No one was injured, but the building, which was unoccupied at the time of the fire, was left uninhabitable due to the damage.

Dartmouth College officials were on scene Sunday to begin a cleanup operation.

“We can’t allow people back into the building until we can do so safely,” Geisel School of Medicine Dean Duane Compton said in the Dartmouth News story. “We are assessing the damage, in concert with Hanover fire officials, and we are working to restore access as soon as possible.”

The adjoining Kellogg Hall and Vail Research building were not damaged. Together, Remsen and Vail include 187,000 square feet, which make them among the largest buildings on campus. Remsen, which contains laboratories, classrooms, offices, conference and study rooms, among other spaces, supports programs for Geisel medical students, students from the Guarini School of Graduate and Advanced Studies and Dartmouth undergraduates.

As they peered into a lab at Remsen on Monday, Nicole Desmet, a Dartmouth graduate student, and Mackenzi Prina, a technician in a neuroscience lab, said they were hopeful that samples they have in a freezer in the damaged lab are still viable. The samples represent years of work, they said. Both work in The Luikart Laboratory, where researchers study novel viruses, according to the lab’s website.

The cause of the fire is under investigation. It may be related to a mechanical or electrical malfunction, according to a Sunday post on Geisel’s website. Those with information about it can contact the Hanover Fire Department at 603-643-2222.

Fire departments from Lebanon, Hartford, Canaan, Norwich and Lyme assisted Hanover in the response.

Nora Doyle-Burr can be reached at ndoyleburr@vnews.com or 603-727-3213.

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