Campus Alert Archive
Stephens

Carbon monoxide from faulty boilers forced the evacuation of two residence halls

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Confirmed Threat

On the night of Wednesday, January 28, 2026, a carbon monoxide detector activated in Searcy Hall at Stephens College, a small women's-focused college in Columbia, Missouri. A resident adviser called 911 shortly after 5:00 PM CST; Columbia Fire measured carbon monoxide at up to 100 parts per million in living areas and as high as 300 ppm in Searcy Hall's basement, and firefighters and police evacuated both Searcy and Prunty Halls. In all, 127 students were displaced and about 21 were evaluated for exposure; the cause was traced to faulty boilers, and students returned to the reopened dorms by early February 2026.

Alerts
2
Response
—
Killed
0
Injured
21
Institution
Stephens College
Private Bachelors · MO
All Stephens cases →
~800 students
Documented Timeline

Alert Sequence

2 messages in sequence · 1 verified verbatim

Confirmed wording is transcribed character-for-character from a primary source. Use Verify this quote under each message to open that source in a new tab and compare the text yourself.

Some messages in this sequence are documented (their existence, timing, and channel are sourced) but their exact wording is not preserved in the public record. Those entries appear as placeholders; only confirmed text is displayed.

FOLLOW-UPEmail
Verified verbatim200 chars
I recognize and sincerely apologize for the stress, fear, disruption, and anxiety that the January 28 carbon monoxide incident and subsequent evacuation of Searcy and Prunty Residence Halls has caused
Verify this quote
Direct quote from Stephens College President Shannon B. Lundeen's message, reproduced verbatim in KOMU 8 Target 8 reportingkomu.comfind archived copies
Verbatim quote: KOMU 8's Target 8 reproduced this sentence word-for-word from President Shannon B. Lundeen's message to the community; it is the exact institutional language and is preserved here with its original phrasing
Lundeen also confirmed that carbon monoxide detectors were installed on each floor of every residence hall and that Peak Climate Heating & Air Conditioning was on campus replacing the boilers in Prunty and Searcy Halls
The apology framing (leading with 'stress, fear, disruption, and anxiety') is an unusually direct acknowledgment of community harm for a campus emergency follow-up, reflecting the close-knit residential character of a roughly 800-student college
Context

Background

Stephens College is a small, historically women's college in Columbia, Missouri, with roughly 800 students. On the night of Wednesday, January 28, 2026, a carbon monoxide detector activated in Searcy Hall; a resident adviser called 911 shortly after 5:00 PM CST. The Columbia Fire and Police Departments responded and measured carbon monoxide at up to 100 parts per million across living areas and as high as 300 ppm in Searcy Hall's basement, then evacuated both Searcy and Prunty Halls. In all, 127 students were displaced into other residence halls or hotels, and about 21 students were evaluated for carbon monoxide exposure at Boone Hospital before being returned to campus; no serious injuries were reported. The college traced the leak to faulty boilers in the two halls. In a follow-up community message, President Shannon B. Lundeen apologized for 'the stress, fear, disruption, and anxiety' the incident caused, confirmed that CO detectors had been installed on every floor of every residence hall, and said new boilers were being installed in Prunty and Searcy. Students returned to the reopened halls by approximately February 2, 2026.
Analysis

Key Findings

Carbon monoxide reached up to 100 ppm in living areas and as high as 300 ppm in Searcy Hall's basement, traced to faulty boilers, displacing 127 students and prompting about 21 medical evaluations with no serious injuries
President Shannon B. Lundeen's verbatim community apology (for 'the stress, fear, disruption, and anxiety' the incident caused) is an unusually direct acknowledgment of community harm in a campus emergency follow-up
The college responded with a structural fix: CO detectors installed on every floor of every residence hall, boiler replacement in Searcy and Prunty, and standardized CO-detector use across campus including academic buildings
Outcome
No deaths. About 21 students were medically evaluated for carbon monoxide exposure; no serious injuries were reported. 127 students were temporarily relocated to other residence halls or hotels. The college traced the leak to faulty boilers, installed carbon monoxide detectors on every floor of every residence hall, replaced the Searcy and Prunty boilers, and standardized CO-detector use across campus, including academic buildings. Students returned to the two halls by approximately February 2, 2026.
Provenance

Sources

Every claim on this page is meant to be checkable. Open the links below (and the Verify this quote control under each confirmed alert) to read the original university, news, or archive page yourself. Hostnames are shown so you can see where you are going; archived copies survive when live pages move or disappear. See also our methodology.

  1. News
    Stephens College residence halls evacuated due to carbon monoxide (KOMU 8)
    komu.com
    archived copy
  2. News
    Gas leak displaces more than 100 Stephens College students (KBIA)
    kbia.org
    archived copy
  3. News
    Stephens College closes 2 dorms after carbon monoxide issues led to evacuations (ABC17News)
    abc17news.com
    archived copy
  4. News
    Stephens College carbon monoxide exposure was caused by 'a number of variables' (KOMU 8 Target 8)
    komu.com
    archived copy
  5. News
    Stephens College students return to campus days after carbon monoxide scare (ABC17News)
    abc17news.com
    archived copy
  6. News
    Stephens College students evacuated after gas leak detected (Columbia Missourian)
    columbiamissourian.com
    archived copy
Cite this case

Campus Alert Archive. "Stephens College: Carbon monoxide from faulty boilers forced the evacuation of two residence halls." Incident of January 28, 2026. Added June 2026. https://campusalertarchive.com/case/stephens-college-carbon-monoxide-evacuation-2026-01-28/

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Alert text quoted on this page remains the work of the issuing institution; the archive is a secondary source.

Tags
carbon-monoxidegas-leakstephens-collegemissouriresidence-hallsearcy-hallprunty-hallboiler-failurewomens-collegeprivate-bachelorsevacuationcolumbia-missouri
Added June 2026Updated June 2026Via ingestion