Marston Science Library was evacuated Tuesday evening after someone reported seeing smoke on the third floor.
The smoke was a result of a small fire in a heating, ventilation and air conditioning unit, wrote UF spokeswoman Janine Sikes in an email. The library reopened at about 7:45 p.m.
Just before 6 p.m., University Police triggered the fire alarm after officers got to the library and smelled smoke.
“They reported a little haze on the third floor,” said James Lovvorn, a Gainesville Fire Rescue district chief paramedic. “They could smell it and see smoke.”
Multiple Gainesville Fire Rescue trucks arrived soon after the fire alarm sounded.
While students and employees evacuated, many people thought it was a drill or an accident.
“The fire alarm went off, and we were nonchalantly packing up, probably the last to leave,” said UF sociology sophomore Meagan Roach.
Roach, 20, had been studying statistics on the third floor with friends when the alarm went off.
“Then we started to smell something burning,” she said.
Authorities said the smoke wasn’t serious, but no one could enter the library until authorities found the source of the fire. The air conditioning was being tested as a possible cause.
By 7:30 p.m., officers were going inside the library and retrieving personal belongings that had been left behind. While the library was closed, students were directed to Library West to study.
“I live there,” one student said as she walked away. “You kicked me out of my house.”
This story was updated to reflect new information. It was once believed the fire was in an elevator shaft rather than an HVAC unit and that the library reopened just after 8 p.m. instead of at 7:45.
