A fire alarm in the cafeteria prompted an evacuation of NEIU’s Student Union building on Thursday, March 7th. Eyewitnesses said that, while in line to order food, there was “a little” smoke coming from the cafeteria. Firefighters were called to the scene, though their engines were delayed in pulling up closer to the student union as a campus police car had stalled. Campus Police Department had to hurry to the car to jump-start it so it could be moved out of the way. This amused a few students.
“It’s a nice day for a fire,” student Phoenix Sanchez remarked while outside, looking towards the building as firefighters made their way to the cafeteria.
Staff in facilities had notified the Independent that the Student Union fire doors automatically go down when the fire alarms are triggered. The doors opened up a few minutes after the Chicago Fire Department dismissal.
While waiting to be let back inside, students in the quad were amused that a NEIUPD car had to be jumpstarted in between the fine arts building and the quad. A few other students reported a high school visit during the time of the fire alarm. There have been no injuries reported at this time.
