BOULDER, Colo.—A power surge Tuesday at the University of Colorado caused outages in 11 residence halls and a small electrical fire in an engineering building, evacuating about 400 students and employees.
The fire broke out shortly before 9 a.m. in a high-voltage room at the CU Engineering Center, causing some light smoke but no open flame, Battalion Chief Gil Espinoza told the Camera newspaper.
No classes were canceled, according to Joann Velasko, assistant engineering dean.
Power problems also led to fire alarms going off in three residence halls. Smoke caused by overheated motors in elevator shafts set off alarms in two halls, and an alarm in a third hall went off due to buildup of steam in the dining room kitchen, school officials said.
The problems began when construction workers hit a power line Monday in the Leeds School of Business, CU officials said. The surge occurred as workers repaired the line Tuesday.
The aerospace engineering and electrical engineering departments in the Engineering Center were closed for the day while CU officials worked to restore power.
Power was restored to the other buildings by 2:30 p.m., although the outage lasted longer in the north side of Willard Hall.
The outages also closed two dining halls.
About 250 summer school students and 550 visitors attending conferences on campus were affected, CU-Boulder officials said.
