Multiple fire engines were dispatched to the Chemistry Annex on Friday night as an electrical issue took place in one of the building’s elevators.
Everyone present in the building was evacuated to the area between the Chemistry Annex and Noyes Laboratory. This included students who were in the process of taking a CBTF exam.
Giuliana Ramirez, junior in LAS and prep staff worker for general chemistry, was working at the Chemistry Annex when the incident occurred.
Ramirez said she noticed a bad smell in the elevator when she used it around 6:30 p.m. After her coworker saw the elevator was smoking, the two called their boss and eventually the fire department.
Fire engines were dispatched at 6:37 p.m. for a “burning odor in the elevator shaft,” according to METCAD.
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“I think it was just an electrical fire in the elevator because it was smoking,” Ramirez said. “I’m not sure after that.”
At 6:50 p.m., it was reported on the police scanner that an elevator “seemed to be overheating” in the Chemistry Annex.
“Can you send somebody out to look at this elevator?” an officer requested over the scanner.
Students were forced to stop and leave their exams during the emergency.
“They evacuated the whole entire building, including the CBTF,” Ramirez said. “Kids were literally coming out.”
Signs reading “Do not use” were taped over the elevator doors following the incident.
“It was such a freak thing that happened,” Ramirez said. “No one got hurt, there was no physical sign of fire. It was just smoking, so no one got hurt. And it smelled really bad.”
The incident is not the first evacuation of the Chemistry Annex this week. The building was evacuated during another CBTF exam on Tuesday afternoon.
Anissa Patel, sophomore in Engineering, said she was maybe 30 minutes into a CS 124 exam when the fire alarm went off and everyone was forced to evacuate. After waiting outside for 15 minutes, students were instructed by the exam proctor to leave and return to complete their test another time.
Exams were scheduled for another day, according to Patel.
“I think in the moment I was frustrated because I didn’t want to retake the test,” Patel said. “But then when I was able to take it again, it was just finishing up the test. I didn’t have to redo the whole thing.”
The reason for Tuesday’s evacuation is currently unknown.
