Why was Salem Hall evacuated yesterday?

Yesterday, around 4:10 PM, Salem Hall – the Chemistry building – was evacuated.

There was a strange smell, and the police, firefighters, and North Carolina Hazmat Team were all rushed to campus. They investigated the scent for over an hour-and-a-half but never informed students what the cause of evacuation was.

Sydney Soll’s snap chat story: a beautiful day for an evacuation

Sophomore Sydney Soll, a Chemistry major from Pennsylvania, was taking her Chemistry final when this occurred. She said: “The police told us to back up a few feet from the building.”

There are rumors that a lab glove, covered in chemicals, was left out. This item, according to Sydney, “should have been in the fume hood.” Yet, the smell was too pungent and overwhelming to be simply coming from a glove.

She added: “There was something else going on.”

Another student in the class, Freshman Taylor Catalano, said: “They told us that a grad student threw his or her gloves into the garbage and that’s where the smell was coming from.”

Police, firefighters, and North Carolina’s hazmat team were called to Salem Hall

When I spoke to a member of the facilities staff, he told me that “someone threw something in the trash that wasn’t supposed to be there. The smell was really bad so we had to evacuate to get rid of it, but it really was not a big deal.”

The facilities staff member said he does know what “exactly caused the smell.” He added Wake Forest will not be conducting an investigation because the problem was “not a big deal.”

The cause for evacuation is still unknown to students.

However, many students are disappointed that they have not been informed or addressed by the Chemistry department.

Every day, chemistry students work with dangerous and hazardous materials and should, therefore, be kept informed about their safety. While the source could still be unknown, it would be nice to hear from our administration regarding this freak incident.