Fire Alarm Wasn’t False

EAST PEORIA ― Hundreds of students got to see Illinois Central College’s emergency alert system in action on Wednesday as the Academic Building was briefly evacuated due to a possible fire, and while no signs of fire could be seen, there was a legitimate hazard to ICC property.

After the automated alarm tones and evacuation message began sounding around 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, it was still only moments before the courtyard was filled with masses of students, faculty, and staff, all waiting to hear that it was safe to return inside from the cold outdoors.

Then at approximately 12:50 p.m., the words “all clear” could be heard from the speakers on the building’s exterior. The whole event was over without the slightest smell of fire or sight of smoke, but there was actually a legitimate reason for the alarm.

According to ICC Facilities Operations, an electric motor in one of the Academic Building’s old rooftop air conditioning units overheated and began to produce smoke that was detected by a built-in smoke detector.

“It was not a false alarm by any stretch of the imagination,” said Jeff LaGrow, ICC’s supervisor of building maintenance systems. “Basically, [the alarm system] worked exactly like it was supposed to. We took care of it. It never became an issue because [the rooftop unit] shut down fast enough that it didn’t create a fire.”

LaGrow said that that particular rooftop unit is near the 325 office block of the Academic Building and is among a group of units to be replaced this summer. Meanwhile, the unit is receiving a new electric motor.

“The students did a good job evacuating; everybody got out pretty quickly. It all worked pretty well.” said Tom Larson, ICC’s police chief. “I was very impressed how everybody took it seriously and evacuated.”