Brigid Cooley
Editor-in-Chief
A fire alarm evacuated the Central Academic Building of Texas A&M University-San Antonio at approximately 3:55 p.m. March 3.
University police Chief Ron Davidson confirmed in an email that the alarm was triggered by an “accidental activation of a pull station near the cafeteria,” according to Jeanette De Diemar, vice president of external advancement and communication.
The San Antonio Fire Department – Station 2 confirmed in a phone call March 4 that they did receive a call that was canceled on the day of the evacuation. They did not dispatch any emergency personnel.
The Mesquite observed during the evacuation that some students, faculty and staff were guided toward the basketball court outside Patriots’ Casa.
James Nail, electronic resources specialist for the university library, is a member of the Campus Community Emergency Response Team, and helped with crowd control during the evacuation.
He said the basketball court is one of the two designated safety zones on campus. The other is the parking lot on the other side of CAB.
“Right now, it’s making sure everyone is away from the building,” Nail said during the evacuation. “Most safety plans are, you don’t want to be near the building in case there’s a collapse and things fall out.”
Students and employees were allowed to re-enter the building at approximately 4:05 p.m.
Liandre De la Uso contributed to this story.
