Lawson Hall was evacuated at approximately 1:30 p.m. Thursday after fire alarms were triggered in response to burnt food on the ninth floor.

Patrick Wildman, a senior social science secondary education major, is the senior staff assistant for Taylor and Lawson.

Wildman, who was working at the front desk at the time, said he was unsure of what caused the incident.

“There were reports of smoke on the ninth floor,” Wildman said.

Temetria Hargett, resident director for Lawson Hall, led the evacuation.

Hargett spoke with the Charleston Fire Department about what caused the evacuation.

“As it turns out, there was someone cooking on one of the communities, and that’s what triggered the fire alarm,” Hargett said.

Angela Bicos, freshman English major, and Michelle Santos, freshman elementary education major, were in their room at the time.

Both said they were confused when they heard the alarm.

“We heard the fire alarm go off and we were like, ‘Wait, its not even the first Tuesday of the month,'” Santos said.

Katie Payne, a junior history major, is employed by conference services and was working on the second floor at the time. Payne said she was startled by the alarm.

“I know it scared me when it went off because it was in the afternoon and I wasn’t expecting it,” Payne said.

Hargett said the residents and RA’s responded well to the evacuation, and that they were fortunate that not everyone had to wait out in the cold.

“They did a great job as far as staying away from the building, and it was fortunate that we had Taylor and Andrew’s lobbies that we could use to wait inside because it’s kind of cold outside,” Hargett said. “And the staff handled it even though not everyone was here.”

Jason Hardimon can be reached at 581-7942 or

jrhardimon2@eiu.edu