Campus Alert Archive
Auburn

Two Workers, a Strange Smell, and a Chemistry Building Cleared Out

ALhazmatemergency notificationmedium confidence

On the morning of March 24, 2011, Auburn University evacuated its Chemistry Building on Mell Street after two construction workers reported an unknown odor and began feeling sick, dizzy and nauseated. Emergency crews evacuated the building as a precaution but found no hazardous conditions, and the building reopened the same day after testing.

Alerts
2
Response
—
Killed
—
Injured
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Institution
Auburn University
Public R1 · AL
AU Alert
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

2 messages in sequence

Some alert texts below are approximate reconstructions from news coverage, not confirmed verbatim transcripts. Reconstructed texts are shown in italic with a dashed border. Verified verbatim texts have a solid border and are marked accordingly.

INITIAL ALERTSMS
Approximate reconstruction149 chars
AU ALERT: Chemistry Building on Mell St. evacuated due to report of an unknown odor. Avoid the area. Emergency crews responding. More info to follow.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Reconstruction based on local TV reporting that the Chemistry Building on Mell Street was evacuated after an unknown odor was reported; the precise AU Alert text was not located in an official archive, so this is marked unconfirmed.
The trigger was two construction workers who smelled an odd odor and then felt sick, dizzy and nauseated, prompting a call to police rather than an automatic gas-detector trip.
ALL CLEARSMS
Approximate reconstruction121 chars
AU ALERT: All clear. Chemistry Building has reopened. No hazardous conditions were found. Normal operations have resumed.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Reconstruction of the all-clear; WTVM reported the building reopened the same day after crews found no hazardous conditions.
The all-clear is honest here: it lifts the avoid-the-area instruction and confirms reopening, distinguishing it from a mere status update.
Context

Background

The incident centered on Auburn's Chemistry Building on Mell Street, where two construction workers reported an unknown odor and then began feeling sick, according to WSFA. Emergency crews evacuated the building for a possible hazardous situation but ultimately found no dangerous conditions, and the building reopened the same day. The university said little publicly, characterizing the trigger only as an unknown odor. The episode illustrates a common Clery scenario: a chemistry-building odor report that is treated as an emergency notification and resolved quickly once air testing comes back clean.
Outcome
No hazardous materials were found and no one required hospitalization beyond the two workers who initially felt ill. The building was cleared and reopened the same day.
Provenance

Sources

  1. News
    AU evacuates Chemistry Building - WSFA
    wsfa.com
  2. News
    Auburn's chemistry building reopens following possible leak scare - WTVM
    wtvm.com
Tags
hazmatgas-leakchemistry-buildingevacuationalabamaauburn
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion