An aroma of smoke filled Spiva Library at 10 a.m. Oct. 16 as the fire alarm sounded.

The building was then searched and evacuated. Students and faculty stood outside as five fire trucks came to the scene.

“It seemed like we had a multitude of fire trucks and police cars here,” said Waundenna Agee, library secretary.

Agee was on duty at the time.

She said the workers were unsure of the alarm at first.

“One of the computer monitors had overheated earlier, ” she said.

She said when they smelled smoke in the air, the alarm was taken seriously and the workers checked the rooms and told anyone inside to leave the area.

“We had some students that didn’t want to leave the computers,” Agee said.

She said the smell of smoke also caused the students to leave the building on their own.

When the alarm sounded, maintenance staff came to the scene.

“They were here almost instantaneously,” Agee said.

The Joplin Fire Department was second on the scene and determined the cause of the alarm.

“A bearing had seized up on an air exchanger,” said Robert Harrington, director of the Physical Plant.

Harrington said the grease around the bearing heated up producing smoke. The smell of the smoke circulated through the system and into the building.

“It wasn’t that much smoke, just smell,” Harrington said.

Harrington said the duct detector in the system triggered the alarm for the building.

“It’s just one of those added safety precautions,” he said. “The system worked exactly like we wanted it to.”

Wendy McGrane, library director, was called after the incident. She said there are several steps the workers are to take when an alarm sounds.

“It’s pretty straight forward,” she said. “Anytime the alarm goes off, the proper areas are notified and the building is evacuated.”

McGrane said the procedure went smoothly, and she appreciates the cooperation of all students in the building at the time.

“As far as I could tell, everyone did exactly as they should do,” Agee said. “The plan worked.”

No damage was reported outside the overheated bearing.

“Fortunately, it was a very small occurrence,” McGrane said. “We were very lucky it wasn’t more serious.”

The building was evacuated for an hour and a half before students and faculty members could reenter.

Harrington, McGrane and Agee said they appreciated the work of the maintenance crew and their quick response.

The bearing will be replaced.