Students evacuated after electrical fire on Boise State campus; classes have resumed
Boise State University students were directed to evacuate the quad area Wednesday to any building south of it after reports of a fire on campus.
Ada County Emergency Dispatch officials said the original call came in at 10:49 a.m. at Riverfront Hall, 1987 Cesar Chavez Lane, which houses the graduate college office, IT headquarters and Basque Studies program. Boise Fire officials shut down the 1900 block of West Cesar Chavez Lane, and firefighters were on scene throughout the afternoon.
“Today’s fire was accidental due to electrical failure with their flood control system,” the Boise Fire Department said on Twitter. “The smoke from that fire spread, via underground tunnel system, to the library, causing that smoke alarm to go off.”
Shortly before noon, officials at the scene said the fire was out, but they were ensuring that a tunnel was clear.
According to reports on the police dispatch scanner, smoke was seen in steam tunnels that connect several buildings on campus. A BroncoAlert sent to students around 1 p.m. confirmed that the fire had been in the steam tunnels.
Power was shut down to Riverfront Hall for a while, and students were advised that shuttles would be delayed. At 4:15 p.m., students received a BroncoAlert notifying them that all buildings were cleared and that Riverfront Hall classes would resume at 5:30 p.m.
The State fire marshal is taking over the investigation, BFD officials said.
Statesman reporters Ximena Bustillo and Nicole Blanchard contributed to this story.
This story was originally published February 5, 2020 at 11:42 AM.
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