ES&T explosion triggers false emergency alert

The Tech Police Department mistakenly distributed an emergency notification instructing students to evacuate campus in response to a chemical explosion in the Ford Environmental Science and Technology building Thursday afternoon.

"We got a report of an explosion of a chemical operation on the second floor," said Bill May of the Atlanta Fire Department. "On our arrival we did evacuate the ES&T building."

At some point after the building had already been evacuated, Tech's recently installed emergency notification system distributed an announcement reading, "Evacuate campus immediately and tune to local media for additional information." The message was followed less than 10 minutes later by another, instructing students to disregard the notification.

"The [fire department's] incident commander felt [the explosion] was contained in the one building and it was not necessary to expand that evacuation," May said.

"The text message was triggered in error; we don't know how or why," said James Fetig, assistant vice president of Institute Communications and Public Affairs. "An investigation will take a look at that to determine what happened."

The false alarm is the first time the new system has been used since its launch in August. Most students received the notifications successfully. "The good news is that it appeared to work; most people followed the instructions," Fetig said.

However, the fact that the first alert students received is a false one could reduce the new system's effectiveness in the event of an actual emergency.

"Is it embarrassing? Yes. Are we concerned about the credibility of the system? Absolutely," Fetig said.

According to May, one minor injury occurred, as a result of the explosion, which involved the chemicals tetrahydrofuran, acetonitrile, and sodium. The injured person was not transported to a hospital.