A false fire alarm at Durham College’s Oshawa campus left students and staff confused after it went off around 1:05 p.m. on Wednesday.
Three fire trucks arrived on scene within five minutes of the alarm sounding.
When asked for more information about the cause, the fire marshal said an investigation was still underway.
Campus security said they believed it was a false alarm but declined to provide further details.
“This is sensitive information, and we are not allowed to share it with media,” they said, adding that faculty and students might have more insight.
McKenzie Mahon, a dental hygiene student, said she was in a study room when the alarm rang.
“Our first thought was—what was going on,” she said. “We looked around to see whether other people were evacuating, and we saw people were.”
She said she and her peers packed up their belongings and left the building.
Dani Sabeh, a business finance student explained that someone in the college cafeteria had used a fire extinguisher, spraying it everywhere. The extinguisher released a large amount of dust into the air, which led someone to pull the fire alarm.
When asked where he got the information, he explained, “I heard from the people in the cafeteria at the time,” but clarified that he had not witnessed it himself.
Durham College has yet to release a statement on the incident.