An apartment building in Boulder, Colo. that rented to many University of Colorado students remains off-limits today after inspectors found asbestos in the drywall mud.

According to an article in the Daily Camera, a fire Saturday at the Hill House apartments displaced 50 people, mostly university students, and though there were no injuries, it is expected that some tenants will lose everything. Complicating the issue is the presence of asbestos.

Police told the media that air quality tests were being done and that tenants could not re-enter the building until it was determined that asbestos fibers in the air were within the legal limits. Officials also noted that some items may not be salvageable because of the level of asbestos contamination inside the building.

“This is incredibly traumatic,” CU spokesman Bronson Hilliard said, noting that some of the students whose apartments burned lost possessions such as lap tops, cell phones, wallets, and passports, as well as clothes and other personal belongings. One student told a counselor that all she had left were the shorts, shirt, and flip flops she was wearing when the fire broke out.

Hilliard said the university is “still trying to determine exactly how many students were affected.” During the summer, many students sublet their apartments and some may have been out of town for travel. The university is available to help with emergency housing needs as well as meals and other necessities, he added.

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