Fire alarms sounded in the CFAC building around 3:45 p.m., April 8 due to a mechanical issue in one of the building’s HVAC units, prompting an immediate evacuation. First reports suggest that there were no injuries and no significant damages.
The Grand Rapids and Kentwood fire departments — with five fire trucks and one battalion chief car — arrived on the scene a few minutes after the evacuation.
The incident was “no real fire,” Mark Noorman, battalion chief of suppression at the City of Grand Rapids told Chimes.
According to Grand Rapids fire department Lieutenant Jason Zamarron, who was on the scene, a “mechanical failure” resulted in the smoke. “It was a burn. So one of the HVAC units, one of the electric motors in it, burned up,” Zamarron told Chimes. “[When] those burn up, [it] smokes up into the unit, pushes that smoke around in there — that’s what sets off the alarms.”
Campus Safety issued a campus-wide alert at 4:05 p.m. under the category “fire” that said smoke was reported in the CFAC. Campus Safety asked individuals to stay clear of the area.
At 4:20 p.m., Campus Safety sent a following campus update declaring the situation “all clear.” Students, staff and faculty were able to re-enter the building and “resume normal activity,” according to the Campus Safety alert.
