By: Hannah Gordon
News Editor
On Sunday night, Devereux Hall was evacuated despite the incident being a regular occurrence.
“A relief valve acted normally to relieve excess pressure,” Phil Winger, associate vice president for facilities, said. “The steam was released from a pipe in the courtyard area.”
Social media flooded with speculation from students about a possible fire or burst pipe. However, according to Winger, the incident was commonplace.
Director of Safety and Security Vito Czyz said a residence director activated a manual fire alarm pull station upon seeing the steam, thinking there was a fire. Students were then evacuated and relocated to Butler Gym. Maintenance personnel arrived and evaluated the situation, according to Czyz.
Safety and Security and emergency responders arrive to the scene at Devereux Hall on Sunday night.
KatieLynn Mulligan, a Devereux resident, said she didn’t know exactly what was happening.
“My friends and I thought it was a drill until we saw an RA running up the steps trying to move people out quickly. Then we realized it was serious,” Mulligan said. “We thought it had something to do with the heat because they had turned it on that night. We figured since it’s an old building it was just the heat being on.”
Students did not receive an E2 Campus Alert regarding the situation.
“The Fire & Life Safety Officer was on the scene and determined that the situation did not represent a serious or continuing threat to students and employees,” Czyz said.
The distinction of “serious or continuing threat” is left to the discretion of Safety and Security.
Winger confirmed no emergency situation occurred.
