Students and faculty evacuated Van Vleck Hall Tuesday afternoon after an air-handling unit overheated and triggered fire alarms throughout the building.
According to the Madison Fire Department, smoke from a burnt belt in the air-handling unit was reported at about 1 p.m. Tuesday, and crews arrived at Van Vleck shortly thereafter. MFD Public Information Officer Lori Wirth said fire crews mainly investigated the building for smoke odors before locating the overheated air unit.
She said smoke was eventually found in one of the rooms near the air unit and that fire crews were able to successfully clear the area of any potential danger. Wirth stressed that fire crews found no real fire, yet they were in Van Vleck longer than expected because they had initial trouble locating the air-handling unit.
""Supposedly there wasn't anyone [in the building] to direct the fire crews to the burnt air unit. Then it was more or less an odor investigation,"" Wirth said.
Senior teaching assistant Dan McGinn was in Van Vleck Tuesday and smelled smoke when the fire alarms sounded.
""The hallway did smell a little bit smoky. There was a fire alarm that went off, then stopped going off,"" McGinn said. ""We came back in the building. It smelled a little smoky again. Then the alarms went off again.""
McGinn said police and fire crew told students and faculty that classes were suspended during the alarms and entry to the building was restricted until about 2 p.m.
""Our whole point was going over there and making sure everybody was secure,"" Wirth said.
