Students were forced to evacuate Bender Library for half an hour Tuesday morning after a gas odor was detected throughout the building.
Around 10 a.m. many library employees started smelling gas in different parts of the building, according to Diana Vogelsong, associate university librarian and director of Public and University Relations for Bender Library.
Employees at the information desk of the library began to receive numerous calls from students who also smelled gas in the building.
Around 10:20 a.m. the library was evacuated. The Metropolitan Police Department, the D.C. Fire Department and the Department of Public Safety were called to the scene, according to Vogelsong.
DCFD determined that the gas smell was coming from one of the pumps on top of the library that is normally used to clean the building. The pump had somehow dislodged and leaked gas into the library’s air intake vent.
Staff members from Facilities Management brought in fans to air out the library, and they measured the air to make sure that it had safe levels of carbon.
Vogelsong said the library was reopened at 11 a.m. once it was determined that the library was safe and free of the gas odor.
You can reach this staff writer at jryan@theeagleonline.com.
