Smoke that activated a fire alarm in Allen Hall forced journalism students, faculty and staff to evacuate the building Monday morning. No injuries or damage were reported.
The Eugene Fire Department responded around 8:30 a.m. with two trucks, two fire chiefs, three ambulances and four fire engines that included an engine equipped with a high-rise ladder.
“Most of them were not needed,” EFD spokesman Glen Potter said. He added that crews started leaving the University around 8:41 a.m.
Students were let back into the building shortly before 9 a.m.
A burned-out ballast, a device used to limit the amount of electrical current in a fluorescent light, in the hallway near the Duniway Center near the east entrance of the building caused the fire, Potter said. The ballast caused a “light haze” on the first floor of Allen Hall.
“It was enough to activate the alarm system in the building,” Potter said.
Potter said that EFD responded with a large team as a precaution.
“We want more resources there, not less, in any case,” he said.
EFD initially received reports that three-story Allen Hall was a four-story building.
“When a building is described as four stories or more, we send our high-response team, which is practically all of the fire equipment in town,” Potter said.
Department of Public Safety Lt. Herb Horner said that Facilities Services ventilated the building with fans.