Tisch Library shortly after midnight on Wednesday was evacuated after its fire alarm went off. This was followed by a power outage in the building in the early afternoon.
Students in the library at the time reported smelling something burning and seeing smoke at the scene early Wednesday morning.
"I'm pretty sure it was about 12:17 a.m., and we packed up all our stuff and we left," sophomore Asa Riley said. "As we walked into the lobby, something smelled like it was burning, but I'm not sure what."
"We were studying downstairs in the basement, then all of a sudden it smells like something's burning, like burnt plastic, and then the alarm went off," senior Susie Petlick said.
The Somerville Fire Department last night confirmed that there was not an actual fire in the building.
Jo−Ann Michalak, director of Tisch Library, explained that the alarm was set off due to a problem with an air handler in the library, a machine that helps circulate air in the building.
"It was not a false alarm in the sense that a motor in an old air handler sort of died and smoked, so it's being replaced, and that caused the fire alarm," Michalak said.
She added that no significant problems resulted from the machine's failure.
"Nothing was damaged, it was all within a mechanical room with fire doors and everything; everyone was safe," Michalak said.
This afternoon's power outage was caused by ongoing construction work in the library, according to Michalak.
"That was related to construction downstairs in the basement … the usual thing where some wires were not labeled, and something happened," she said.
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by Ellen Kan
