Fault in high voltage line forces evacuation of UMM Science building

A fault in a high voltage feeder line forced the evacuation of the Science building on the University of Minnesota, Morris campus Wednesday.

According to UMM Maintenance/Operations Supervisor Mike Vangstad, there was a fault in one of the main high voltage feeder lines going into the Science building, causing it to arc. This caused quite a bit of smoke, which set off the fire alarm in the building around 2:30 p.m.

Classes were evacuated from the building and the Morris Fire Department responded to the alarm.

Vangstad said there was no actual fire, but firemen were able to vent the building with fans to remove the smoke.

The high voltage power room is secure and not occupied and there was no damage to the building.

Power to the building was shut down and the entire campus was without power for a time on Wednesday. All classes were canceled for the rest of the day.

Vangstad said there are dual feeder lines to the building, so they were able to change to the other line and restore power.

All classes resumed as usual on Thursday.