Banks Student Life Center was evacuated on the afternoon of Sept. 11 due to concerns over smoke inside.

According to Lynn Sheehan, Deputy Chief of Back Mountain Regional Fire and EMS, the building was not on fire, but in fact the mulch outside was smoldering.

“It ended up thankfully being a fire in the mulch bed on the outside of the building being sucked in by the air handler, so no damage to the building besides a little bit of smoke,” says Sheehan.

Laura Angeline, Administration Assistant of Resident Life, pulled the fire alarm.

“We did smell smoke, and apparently it was going all throughout the building,” says Angeline.

Angeline also said she saw smoke coming from the radiator when she opened a small door on the side of residence life.

“On a safety precaution, I pulled the fire alarm,” she said.

There was no word on the how the fire started, but the fire company took precautions and made sure the fire was completely out. Sheehan stated that the smoke would clear out of the building in a short time after the fire was out.

MU Alert sent messages to students, warning them that Banks was off limits, and afterwards notified them that it was re-opened to serve dinner at 5pm.

Angeline believed pulling the alarm was the right reaction when others could potentially be in danger.

“You pull a fire alarm because you see something, and when you see something you act upon it. You don’t stand aside and say maybe, you just pull it and put into consideration the safety of others whether it turns out to be false or not,” she said.