A fire that broke out in the basement of the Mechanical Engineering Building Tuesday night forced a hurried evacuation for students and faculty.
Madison Police Lt. Eric Holen said he is unsure how the fire started, but at approximately 7 p.m. firefighters descended into the building's basement to find \a pile of rubble and different materials that were smoking, that were on fire,"" Holen said.
Firefighters were able to put out the flames quickly, resulting in no injuries or significant damage.
Holen said students were let back into the building, but not the basement due to unventilated smoke.
Custodian Kevin Zitka described the basement stairways as ""full of smoke"" when the night classes evacuated.
Zitka said students often do coursework in the basement of the building.
