The CSUN Oviatt Library was evacuated for half an hour Tuesday at around 1 p.m. after a smoke sensor was triggered in OV31, the electric room, on the Garden Level of the building, said Eric Willis, circulation desk administrator. Local firefighters and police arrived at the scene shortly afterwards.

Matthew Blackburn, a screenwriting major was helping a friend with her homework online when he heard someone saying, “”Red Alert. Red Alert. Evacuate. Evacuate.”

“We left the building and were standing on the steps, but the library people told us to go beyond them until they could figure out what happened,” Blackburn said. “I did smell something coming out, sort of like burning rubber.”

Karen Little, circulation desk supervisor in charge, said that “there was some wiring work being done down there earlier in the week so maybe that had something to do with it.”

“It is uncertain at this time to determine why the alarm went off,” Willis said.