Emergency responders arrived on the scene at the 2000 Compass Point building following a building-wide fire alarm.

Residents received an email warning of a fire drill for Feb. 8th, a fire drill that came and went in the middle of the daylight until 2:15 PM.

However, the aftermath of a routine drill was shattered by the return of the building’s fire alarm around 9 PM, a system connected to all 16 multi-student units in the building.

Housing declined to comment on the incident, but we spoke to Battalion Chief Ira Harper.

“There was an accidental breakage of the sprinkler head with no fire.” When asked about the risk of fire. “None at all,” said Harper.

This left only the issue of the flooding of one unit and the fire alarm itself preventing anyone from returning inside, despite the technical safety; police told residents after about an hour that everyone was allowed to return to their rooms.

Residents waited outside, gathered in clusters on the curb of University Hall or the sidewalks on the other side of the housing building, some with their dogs, while the alarm blared. The alarm went off for about an hour and a half until 10:30 PM, when maintenance arrived to shut it down, and residents could return to their rooms.