The Earth and Marine Sciences Building remains closed tonight, following today's fire. With clean-up efforts underway, the campus fire marshal approved the building's reopening for 8 a.m. Saturday—with the exception of the third and fourth floors of the C wing, which will continue to be closed until the cleanup and restoration of the area is completed.
At 11:06 a.m. today, the UC Santa Cruz Police Department and Santa Cruz Fire Department responded to the fourth floor of Earth and Marine Sciences Building after receiving reports of a fire and smoke in the building's C wing. No injuries were reported.
With fire alarms sounding, police officers began evacuating all wings of the building. By 11:18 a.m., Santa Cruz firefighters reported that the fire had been extinguished and clean-up efforts could begin.
The fire was contained to a fourth floor lab in the C wing. However, there was extensive water damage to the third and fourth floors because of the activation of the fire sprinkler system and suppression efforts.
UC police and the California State Fire Marshal jointly investigated the fire and have deemed it accidental. The cleanup is being conducted under the supervision of UC Santa Cruz staff in Environmental Health and Safety, and Physical Planning, Development, and Operations.
We appreciate the community's quick response and patience.
