Campus Recreation student staff pulled the fire alarm after smelling smoke and hearing commotion in Malley Center around 3:55 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 6. All students inside Malley were evacuated outdoors as Santa Clara Fire Department arrived on scene.

“Super proud of my student staff that was working,” said Janice DeMonsi, director of recreation at Santa Clara University. “They noticed that the lights flickered. 
There was a pop. They then smelled smoke, and they pulled the fire alarm. We cleared the building for the first time when it wasn’t a drill.”

“We were waiting for a chess tournament, and all of a sudden, the alarm gets going off, we walk into the hallway, and the hallway is full of smoke,” said Cole Seley ’27. “We can smell this kind of weird burning smell. It didn’t smell exactly like burning. It was a different thing on top. 
And then we all evacuated.”

Crews deemed the area safe, and staff were let back into the building around 4:15 p.m to get situated. Students were then allowed reentry around 4:20 p.m.

Campus Safety declined TSC’s request for comment. No cause of the smoke has been confirmed.

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.