200 Evacuate WSU Building

About 200 people were evacuated from a Washington State University building Thursday when smoke from a small fire next door touched off fire alarms.

Workers using cutting torches during remodeling on the sixth floor mechanical room of the Fulmer Annex touched off the fire shortly before noon, igniting fiberglass air filters and PVC piping, said Al Ruddy, a WSU spokesman.

Smoke from the fire was carried into the nearby chemical synthesis building, triggering fire sensors and forcing the evacuation of students and faculty for more than two hours, Ruddy said.

Four units of the Washington State University fire department brought the fire under control in about half an hour, Ruddy said. An estimate of the fire’s damage was unavailable. , DataTimes