Fire scare sets off false alarms

A fire scare in Hedlund sent students and faculty out into the cold today.

A malfunctioning microwave in the culinary arts program set off the building’s upstairs smoke alarms.

“Me and my buddy were coming around and the whole room was filled with smoke, it smelt like rubber,” said 23 year-old professional technical student, Jake Berwick. “I could feel it in my nose and eyes. It definitely wasn’t nice.”

Dave Stewart, a campus electrician, said that although the internal components of the unit burned up, there was no actual fire.

“Somebody was about to cook something when this microwave burned up. It wasn’t the student’s fault, [the microwave] just failed,” Stewart said. “They just turned it on and it started smoking.”

It took ten minutes for the fire department to arrive and declare the building safe.

“I was at the far end of the hallway when the alarm went off,” said Jennifer Henage, coordinator professional-technical student support. “I didn’t even have time to grab my coat.”