Students evacuated the Robert W. Woodruff Library after a fire alarm was triggered just before 4 p.m. on Feb. 25. Campus Services and the Emory Police Department responded to reports of smoke on the fifth floor, according to Assistant Vice President of University Communications Laura Diamond.
In an email to The Emory Wheel, Diamond stated that there was no fire at the library. The DeKalb County Fire Rescue Department cleared students to return to the building at approximately 4:40 p.m.
“As a precaution, the building was evacuated, and DeKalb Fire was called to the scene,” Diamond wrote. “A fire extinguisher had been used inside the building.”
Diamond said no more information was available when asked why the fire extinguisher had been used.
Firemen were seen exiting the Woodruff Library. (Jack Rutherford/Asst. News Editor)
Christopher Li (26C), who evacuated the library after the alarm went off, said that there was smoke in the stairwell coming from the fourth floor as he was leaving the building.
Jacob Sherber (26C) also evacuated from the Stacks Tower stairwell.
“I was in the bathroom in stacks and then I just heard the alarm go off,” Sherber said. “I couldn’t quite hear what they were saying over the speakers, but once I left the bathroom, everyone was evacuating. Down in the stairwell, it was a little bit smoky.”
Powdery residue was present in the Woodruff Library Stacks Tower stairwell. (Jack Rutherford/Asst. News Editor)
Students were still exiting the building several minutes after the alarm sounded.
Sara Masuyama (25C) was in the Matheson Reading Room in the Asa Griggs Candler Library, which is connected to the Woodruff Library, when the fire alarm went off.
“We didn’t hear any alarm because the door was closed,” Masuyama said. “We only came out when the staff came up to get us.”
Jack Rutherford (27C) is a News Editor at the Emory Wheel. He is from Louisville, Kentucky, majoring in Economics on a pre-law track. When not writing for the Wheel, he can normally be found with the Emory Rowing team or at a Schwartz Center performance. In his free time, Rutherford enjoys listening to classical music or opera, or is out walking in Lullwater.
