Fire alarms and sprinklers were set off in The Loft inside the University Center West on Thursday. Fire trucks arrived at the scene at 4:34 p.m. 

• 4:51 p.m. Firemen walk in and another fire truck arrives.
• 4:58 p.m. Firemen walk out and take their gear off.
• 5:12 p.m. Caution tape is taken inside.
• 5:17 p.m. Firetruck left.
• 5:21 p.m. A Sodexo employee, the sheriff and a firefighter are seen going upstairs.
• 5:26 p.m. Dining staff are seen meeting together before going back inside.

The Loft is closed. 

According to students sitting inside The Loft, they said they smelled smoke after the alarms were triggered. 

Fray Bodkin, sophomore psychology and social work double major, said she was working on homework in The Loft when the fire alarms suddenly went off. 

“I was like, ‘Oh, okay, I guess that’s happening,’” she said. “I didn’t know if it was for a fire or for something else, and then I smelled the smoke pretty shortly after.”

Jesse Jenkins, sophomore psychology and social work double major, was sitting with Bodkin in The Loft. He said he smelled smoke right after the alarms went off. 

He said it seemed like it was “probably a food fire or something.” 

“I wasn’t like, ‘Oh no, there’s a huge fire,’” Jenkins said. “I was like, ‘Oh, someone probably burned something, and it went off.’” 

Abbi Robinson, sophomore psychology major, was working in the Ghost Kitchen when she heard the alarms around 4:20 p.m. and evacuated to The Quad until 5:30 p.m. before being let back inside. 

She said they opened up meal swaps an hour earlier to make up for The Loft closing unexpectedly.

Graham Jones, freshman mechanical engineering major, said he was leaving work at 4:30 p.m. and walked to the UC to refill his tumbler.

“I remember seeing a lot more people outside including some staff and was mildly confused on hearing the fire alarm inside which I didn’t place,” he said. “The Quad had a lot more people concentrated there than usual which made me ask around.” 

When Jones asked what happened, he learned there was a fire in The Loft kitchen.

Around 6 p.m. USI’s Dining Instagram account announced the temporary closure of The Loft.