The Leavey Center was evacuated for about a half hour yesterday after the heat from a caterer’s appliance triggered a smoke detector on the second floor. Students, visitors and others were barred from entering the building while university maintenance searched for the cause of the alarm.

Coral Hester, an employee of Take Me Home Catering, said the alarm went off after he opened the doors of an appliance that was warming food for an event on the Leavey Esplanade around 4:45 p.m. “We were just doing what we normally do,” Hester said. The appliance was located directly under a smoke detector; though no fire or smoke was present, the heat from the cooking triggered the alarm. Hester said he and another employee never left the building.

Several university maintenance employees said they were frustrated by the lack of concern when the alarm sounded. Many of the people in the Leavey Center ignored the alarm when it began to sound and had to be asked repeatedly to leave the building. “When [the fire alarm] goes off, it’s real,” maintenance employee Joe Daniels said. “Not enough people take it seriously enough.” Daniels said false alarms frequently occur around campus, especially in kitchens, since the smoke from cooking is often enough to trigger the alarm. He said students on campus have grown accustomed to ignoring the alarm and said he was not surprised with the slow response to the evacuation.

Those who left the building gathered in front of the Leavey Clock Tower on the steps of the building. More confusion arose when the alarm stopped ringing before maintenance had located the source; many in the crowd attempted to re-enter the building before university personnel gave them the go-ahead.

Once the source of the alarm was located on the second floor, people were allowed to return to the stores, lounges and offices they had abandoned. No damage was reported.