A smoking elevator set off fire alarms at the Computer Science Engineering building Tuesday, clearing out the CIRCA Lab for about half an hour.
An elevator technician was called in immediately to fix the problem: a worn-out shaft belt that generated smoke.
The elevator was empty at the time. If people had been in it, they probably would just have been stuck between floors, said University Police Officer Sam Sexton.
"It wouldn't drop like in the movies," Sexton said.
Students using the lab computers said they were inconvenienced by the alarm.
Nadeige Thomas, a UF sophomore, said the alarm went off four minutes before her allotted time to register for classes.
"I could lose my seat," Thomas said.
Freshman Neel Patel, who was about to check his schedule, was left with no idea where or when his next class was.
"It kind of screwed up everything for me," Patel said.
