A “small” fire took place at McTyeire International House, sparked by one of the dorm’s heating units, according to an email statement from a university spokesperson.

“No real damage was sustained,” the spokesperson said.

Fire alarms sounded in McTyeire International House, and students were quickly evacuated at approximately 10:30 a.m. CDT, according to second floor McTyeire RA Amelia Barron.  

The Nashville Fire Department and VUPD arrived on scene and were able to give the students the all-clear to go back in the building within a half hour, according to the email statement. 

The Metro Nashville Fire Department firefighter declined to comment at the scene. Similarly, a VUPD officer directed The Hustler to the university’s public relations team. 

Sophomore Truman McDaniel, Deputy Editor for The Hustler’s Multimedia section, reported there were at least 11 fire trucks on scene. 

Students who were evacuated waited on the lawn in front of McTyeire for an all-clear to return to their dorms. Barron was among those evacuated.

“There has been some smoke spotted in the building on the second floor near the library room. That’s all we know at this point,” Barron said while waiting to re-enter the building. 

Barron mentioned that she had seen multiple people enter the building since her evacuation, including Metro Nashville firefighters and VUPD officers. While she noted the situation did not seem too worrisome, she also mentioned that the sirens caught everyone off guard. 

“One person was in the shower. People were in class. People were asleep like myself,” Barron said. 

Barron stated she was in such a rush to get out of the building, she accidentally forgot to bring a mask with her. Anna Horzen, a junior living in McTyeire, stated that the alarms caught her off guard during her Zoom class.

“I thought it was coming from my computer at first, like someone else on the Zoom. I was like, ‘why aren’t they reacting?’” Horzen said.