False fire alarms in Sellery Hall and Humanities went off Tuesday morning, causing UW-Madison students to evacuate both buildings.
Sellery Hall residents said the alarm went off around 6:15 a.m. and they waited outside for 15 minutes before they were permitted to re-enter the building.
According to Senior Residence Hall Manager Jim Franzone, Tuesday's alarm was not a planned drill.
It was caused by a potential issue with water pressure and heat buildup,"" Franzone said. ""It got too hot in the boiler room and set off the alarm.""
Several Sellery Hall residents said they thought it the alarm was a joke and contemplated going back to bed without evacuating
""I didn't think we actually had to leave,"" Adelyn Allchin, a Sellery Hall resident said. ""A lot of us wanted to stay but my house fellow told us we couldn't.""
Maura Aghjian, another Sellery Hall resident, said though she did not hear of anyone ignoring the alarm, many students did not want to evacuate.
""No one really knew what was going on, I heard people saying they didn't want to leave,"" she said.
According to Franzone, University Housing officials consistently remind residents that evacuating during fire alarms is mandatory.
""We send usual e-mails reminding students to leave when there is a fire drill,"" he said. ""You never know if it is real or false.""
The University of Wisconsin Police Department heavily fines students who neglect to evacuate the building when an alarm goes off.
""We are told we get in big trouble if we don't leave,"" Allchin said. ""I think that encourages people to actually evacuate.""
According to Franzone, house fellows do not take head counts to make sure every student leaves the building. However, they are aware of students with special needs and ensure their safety during evacuation.
At approximately 11:45 a.m., students in the Humanities building evacuated due to what Madison Fire Department said was an unintentional fire alarm.
""Dust from [an art room] grinder got into the detectors '¦ and set off the alarm,"" said Bernadette Galvez, a Madison Fire Department public information officer.
According to Galvez, fire officials arrived at the scene and cleaned out the detectors.
