Daniella Aldaco
Social Media Editor
Students, faculty and staff were evacuated Thursday afternoon from the Central Academic Building at Texas A&M University-San Antonio after a fire alarm sounded when a smoke detector malfunctioned.
The San Antonio Fire Department sent one fire engine from Fire Station 2 in response to a call from A&M-San Antonio Aug. 22. according to fire Capt. Chris Lange.
Todd Mocabee, chief facilities officer at A&M-San Antonio, said the call came from the university’s fire-monitoring system after a smoke detector malfunction on the first floor of the CAB. The alarm itself went off a few minutes before 3:30 p.m.
A response team instructed evacuees to maintain a large distance from the CAB with some being people told to wait as far as the basketball pavilion behind Patriots’ Casa.
No one was hurt, and nothing was damaged, Lange said in a phone interview Aug. 22.
Brittany Espinosa, computer science freshman, was alerted by the loud pitch of the alarm while she was on the first floor of the CAB.
“I was immediately alarmed by the loud pitch. My friends and I were sitting in the cafeteria when it went off,” Espinosa said. “I stood up and looked at all of my stuff and wondered whether or not I should take it or leave it.”
Close to 4 p.m. university officials allowed students, faculty and staff to head back inside the CAB.
Despite the reason for the evacuation, Cristian Sandoval, executive director of marketing and communication, said safety is priority.
“We will always err on the side of safety,” Sandoval said. “When an alarm is triggered, we have to rule out any and all possible risks.”
