Environmental Health and Safety and the Office of Research have received multiple reports of significant smoke odors inside campus buildings. Campus facility personnel are not able to do anything about the air quality due to the need for 100 percent outside air for the lab air handling systems.
Based on the poor air quality and the potential of a campus evacuation, we recommend that all non-essential on-campus research activities cease until the air quality improves and there is more clarity on the fire threat to the campus. At this time there is NOT an active fire on the residential campus lands, Coastal Science Campus, or the West Side Research Park. However, conditions can change and we want to be prepared. As part of ceasing activities, we recommend labs shut down all equipment as you would normally for winter curtailment, secure chemicals in fire-safe storage, and secure lab notebooks and other irreplaceable items if possible.
