An electrical glitch in a light at the Sullivan Student Center occurred this past Tuesday night. The building was closed down for the rest of the evening.

According to Director of Student Activities and Leadership John Robert O’Connor, a ballast malfunctioned in the front right light in the main entranceway to the student center. “It started to melt and that was what initially caused the smell that was reported to security,” he said.

It was security that triggered the fire alarm, not the smell of smoke, after being called by a student worker at the info desk. ”Students noticed a weird smell on the second floor,” O’Connor said. “Security came to investigate and because they couldn’t immediately identify, they pulled the alarm to evacuate the building.”

The fire alarm went off around 6:30 p.m. and continued while the Canton Fire Department searched for the cause of the smell.

An email alerting students the student center would be closed until further notice was sent out about an hour and a half later.

The Canton Fire Department did not locate the malfunctioning light immediately. “We closed the student center when it became clear that in an hour we weren’t going to determine the issue,” O’Connor said. “It was better to close the building so they could have the space to work and investigate to determine what the issue was than to keep people waiting.” 

Canton Assistant Chief Firefighter Shawn Mcgregor noticed the smell was electrical smoke when he arrived at the student center. “After further investigation, we found it was outside lights,” he said.

SLU Security Office Kelly Canary said that campus facilities sent an electrician to look at the light later Tuesday evening and the student center would reopen after. “We’d rather be safe than sorry,” Canary said.

Alex Cohen ’22 was another Canton firefighter on the scene. “It got reported as just the smell of smoke, and people were feeling lightheaded,” Cohen said. “If [the light] had kept burning, insulation in the roof could have caught fire,” Cohen said.

To turn off the light, the switch in the breaker box was turned off to stop the flow of electricity to the entrance way. 

Security stood by the entrances to the student center before it reopened. “Measures are being taken to make sure there’s nobody in the building, in case there is any follow up incidents,” Cohen said. 

Sophie Cardenali ’21 was sitting in the Winston Room at the time of the malfunction. “I didn’t really notice [the smell of smoke] until the alarm went off,” she said. 

Keerah McCratic ’22 was working in the pub when the electrical issue happened. “They issued the alert about ten minutes after we started to smell it,” she said. 

While the student center was shut down during the fire department investigation, pub workers went back in to clean for about a half hour. “We could not see any electrical issues and the smell wasn’t really there when we got back,” McCratic said. 

All the food that had been made for orders during the fire was thrown out. 

Students who had been working in the student center when the fire alarm went off were allowed to retrieve any belongings they had left. 

Hayley Snodgrass ’21 went to grab her backpack but was hurried out. “They didn’t want anyone staying in longer than a few minutes,” she said. 

The student center reopened Wednesday morning after the broken part was replaced.