Around 2:45 p.m. Tuesday, students were evacuated from NKU’s Haile College of Business after reports of a gas smell inside the building.

Students gathered for about 45 minutes outside the building. Students arriving for classes were unaware of the situation.

Katie Wilkie, a sophomore Innovation & Entrepreneurship major, was in class when the building was evacuated.

“All of a sudden, a police officer knocked on the door and basically told everyone to get out because there was a gas leak,” said Wilkie. “We kinda thought it smelled funny, but we didn’t know if that was a kind of placebo effect, or if it was actually the gas.”

Wilkie and her classmates were unsure of the details of the situation while waiting for the all-clear.

“We haven’t heard anything, and we don’t know if classes are canceled,” said Wilkie. “We’re all just kind of waiting here. They seem to be taking it pretty seriously, but we don’t know much.”

At around 3:25 p.m., the building was cleared for re-entry. Haile College of Business Dean Hassan R. HassabElnaby was seen waving students back into the building after the fire department gave the all-clear.

Captain Danny Hildebrand of the Central Campbell Fire District spoke to The Northerner regarding the incident.

“We got a call for a smell of natural gas in the building. So we checked it out, we got some slight readings, determined that there wasn’t a gas problem, but it probably got sucked in through the ventilation system,” he said. “So we went in and ventilated the building to make sure it was safe”.

NKU’s chief communications officer, Corey Best, released a statement saying:

“Earlier today, a report of a possible gas leak at the Haile College of Business prompted a partial evacuation of the building.

The Central Campbell County Fire District investigated the building and found only trace amounts of natural gas on the third floor that were well below levels of concern.

Out of an abundance of caution, the building was thoroughly checked, ventilated by the fire department and cleared for normal operations.

The safety of our campus community is our highest priority, and we appreciate everyone’s patience and cooperation during the brief investigation.”

The incident caused only a brief disruption, and the building has since returned to normal operations.