Bad smell prompts evacuation at Edmonds Community College
May 7, 2015, 7:55 AM | Updated: 8:39 am
A strong odor caused the evacuation of Snohomish hall at Edmonds Community College Thursday morning. (Lynnwood Fire Department)
(Lynnwood Fire Department)
A strange smell caused the evacuation of Snohomish Hall at Edmonds Community College Thursday morning.
Snohomish Hall will remain closed until approximately 4 p.m. Thursday so the building can air out.
College staff noticed the potent and odd smell around 4:30 a.m. The building was evacuated and the Lynnwood Fire Department was called to investigate.
“When employees arrived this morning there was a strong smell in the building,” said Julie Moore with the Lynnwood Fire Department.
The odor was found not to be harmful and came from a chemical that was used to flush out sewage pipes as part of regular building maintenance.
“Maintenance crews were flushing out lines last night and it has a strong odor,” Moore said.
In addition to the chemical smell, the building’s air conditioning system was not operating and circulating the are all morning, leaving the odor to linger.
Before opening again, the college will conduct another test to determine that the air is healthy, according to a statement from the school.
