False Fire Alarm In Pusey Library Causes Closing

Students and employees were evacuated from Pusey Library yesterday morning when a false fire alarm sounded.

The library remained closed the rest of the day because a gas, part of Pusey's fire suppressant system, was discharged automatically after the alarm sounded.

The gas exhausts the supply of oxygen in the building in order to prevent fires, said Larry Dowler, associate librarian of Harvard College.

Dowler said the Fire Department will check the air quality in the library this morning and then determine whether it will be re-opened.

University police and the Cambridge Fire Department responded to the alarm but were unable to identify why it went off.

But this did not stop some individuals from speculating about the cause of the library's closing.

"My boss said she thought it was a gas leak," said Katie R. Ryan '00 who works at Widener stack entrance.

Ryan said few people seemed disgruntled by the library's closing.

"There hasn't been anybody who is really upset," Ryan said. "They [just] want to know when [the library] is going to [re]open."

However, at least one student though was affected by the library's sudden closing.

Chris R. Browne, a Kennedy School student, said, "It is a mighty inconvenience."

Browne is going away for the long weekend and had hoped to obtain a book to read over the weekend.

"All the other copies are on reserve, and [the one in Pusey was] the only one available for long term borrowing."

Browne said he was frustrated since will not be able to get the book this morning.

Ryan and other student workers at the library said they were told to tell those wishing to use Pusey that it would be closed all last night and that they should check again this morning.