Cook not cooked by small fire

UVM’s CatAlert system warned students of a fire caused by a minor electrical fire that evacuated Cook Physical Science building at 1:30 p.m. Sept. 12, officials said.

“No one was hurt,” said Sgt. Jim Phelps of UVM Police Services. “They aired on the side of caution, pulled the fire alarm and called Burlington Fire Department.”

About 100 students crowded around the evacuated building and said they did not know what was going on.

Five minutes after the CatAlert was sent campus-wide, everyone was allowed back inside the building and a new alert told the community that the fire had been put out.

Junior Scott Scribi said he thought it was reasonable for the University to send out an alert because the system does not warn students often, but he also believed the incident wasn’t going to be a big deal.

“I was a little surprised, but not that concerned or anything because there was a similar alert last year and it didn’t turn out to be anything,” Scribi said.