Argryos Forum evacuated after alarm malfunction

Argyros Forum was evacuated for 15 minutes due to an alarm malfunction Thursday. Photo by Rebeccah Glaser

Students and faculty were evacuated from Argryos Forum at about 1 p.m. on Thursday after Public Safety received notice that a water flow detector, which usually indicates smoke or fire, went off in the southwest corner of the first floor near Qdoba, said Public Safety Captain John Kabala.

Kabala said Argyros Forum was evacuated for 15 minutes while officers searched the building, ultimately finding that the alarm had malfunctioned.

A water flow detector, which usually indicates smoke or fire, went off near Qdoba on Thursday afternoon. Photo by Rebeccah Glaser

“We deployed officers throughout the entire building to have everybody evacuate for safety concerns,” Kabala said. “We also went into the basement to clear the area to make sure that there was no fire or water flow.”

Kabela said that water flow generally means that there is smoke or a fire, but that there was no indication of either in this instance.

“When the sprinkler head activates, we usually assume that there’s a fire,” Kabala said. “In this case, it was a malfunction of the alarm.”

The Fire and Life Safety division of Public Safety was at the scene, but declined to give comment to The Panther at the time.

Follow The Panther as we continue reporting on this incident.