Fire Alarm Causes Evacuation From Memorial Hall

Students temporarily evacuated Memorial Hall yesterday morning after a fire alarm that was not triggered by an actual fire went off in the building.

The alarm rang around 11:45 a.m., causing students at lunch in Annenberg Hall, in Sanders Theatre for Ethical Reasoning 22: “Justice,” and in other classes throughout Memorial Hall to file outside.

Onlookers surmised that the steam rising from the back of Memorial Hall had something to do with the alarm, but the connection could not be confirmed.

Two fire trucks and a police van responded to the alarm within several minutes. The responders found no evidence of fire or any other disruption, and the public was allowed back into the building within 20 minutes.

A University spokesperson, who did not wish to be identified, said that a fire suppression system in the kitchen sent a signal to the fire alarm for an unknown reason.

“Essentially, the fire alarm got a signal from the thing that something was not perfect,” the individual said. “As a precautionary measure, it just says, ‘Get out of here.’”

Emergency personnel found that the fire suppression system was intact after the incident, according to the spokesperson.

Students said that the evacuation of Justice, the largest class in the College with 805 enrolled students, proceeded without pandemonium. Many thought that the alarm was a drill and consequently did not react in fear.

“People were still talking about libertarianism and rights, so even in emergencies people were still pretty engrossed in the class,” said Kris S. Liu ’14. “Discussions like that can’t wait, you know.”

According to Justice student James D. Carey ’14, the class’ members “reluctantly and slowly got out of their seats, packed up, and left.” Carey said that he exited through the fire escape, along with other students.

“The fire alarm went off just as we were about to emerge from John Locke’s ‘state of nature,’” course professor Michael J. Sandel wrote in an e-mailed statement. “Now we’ll all be in suspense until Wednesday.”

The dining hall staff was “chasing” diners out of Annenberg, according to Ian Chang ’14, who had just entered the hall when the alarm sounded.

“I had a plateful of food that I hadn’t even touched,” said Omar Mesina ’14.

—Staff writer Julie M. Zauzmer can be reached at jzauzmer@college.harvard.edu.