The Madison Fire Department was dispatched to the University of Wisconsin’s Humphrey Residence Hall after reports of smoking “coming out of the corner of the building” Wednesday.
The incident began at approximately 12 a.m, UW spokesperson Greg Bump said in an email statement to The Badger Herald. Though there was no fire, the building was evacuated of its 69 residents by UW housing staff out of caution.
A student at Humphrey Residence Hall posted a video of steam pouring out of the building on TikTok Wednesday with the caption “Pov ur dorm is on fire” featuring another individual dancing to a clip of “Evacuate the Dance Floor” by Cascada. The video now has more than 25,000 likes.
But, the smoke resulted from a steam leak in a tunnel next to the building, Madison Fire Department Public Information Officer Cynthia Schuster said in an email statement to The Badger Herald. A pressure issue caused the steam discharge on the outside of the building, by design, according to Bump.
Residence hall house fellows who noticed the steam called the night shift line. UW facilities planning and management, UWPD and the Madison Fire Department then responded to the scene, according to Bump.
Evacuated students moved to lounge spaces in nearby housing facilities before returning to Humphrey Residence Hall around 2 a.m., according to Bump. Firefighters determined no safety issues related to the steam leak, Schuster said.
“UW facilities maintenance and UWPD also responded to Humphrey Hall, and UWPD contacted a steamfitter to manage the steam leak,” Schuster said.
This story was updated to reflect additional information from UW spokesperson Greg Bump.
