Elevator Smoke Causes Closures in Mabee Learning Center

On Oct. 27, 2021, the Mabee Learning Center at Oklahoma Christian University closed due to heavy smoke and fumes.

Chris Rosser, the theological librarian, entered the library in the morning and smelled something burning.

“This morning, I arrived to discover a pervasive, heavy burning smell in the library,” Rosser said in an email sent to library staff and faculty. “After alerting security, we opened the door to the elevator service room and smoke poured out. No fire, and the smoke is clearing, but the smell is quite terrible.”

Cary Falling, director of physical plant services, made the call for elevator repair services.

“At 7 a.m. this morning when the elevator pump room started smoking, I made a call to the elevator company and put in an emergency service request for the issue,” Falling said. “I then sent out an email to all the appropriate staff about the incident [and] I called the service tech to ask that he expedite the repairs if possible since this is Homecoming weekend.”

By 2 p.m., some progress had been made by the elevator company.

“I know they have been out and are in the preliminary stage of determining what repairs are needed and the time frame in receiving the parts,” Falling said. “At this time, I don’t have an estimated time for repairs, a report on the extent of the damage or what might have caused the failure.”

Lee Anne Paris, dean of the library, said the physical damage was not widespread.

“The machinery that runs the elevator overheated,” Paris said. “The damage was limited to the closet where the elevator machinery is housed, although the Beam Library, the Brew and other offices in the library were closed today and classes in the library were relocated because of the smell and fumes.”

The relocation appears to have gone smoothly according to Professor of Spanish, Tina Ware, whose class was among those relocated.

“I didn’t know how discombobulating it would be for them to have to find a new classroom,” Ware said. “I didn’t know where this class was until I came to teach, but I think because students have been living in a pandemic and they’ve had to be flexible for so long that they handled this like champs. They found the class, did great, this was no big deal to them.”

The relocation effort was motivated in part by concern for students that have headache or migraine tendencies. Kara Kneuper, a student worker at the library, experienced a headache toward the end of her shift this morning.

“I got a small headache as I left,” Kneuper said. “I was only there for probably an hour.”

Kneuper said this is not the first time something like this has occurred.

“It has kind of been a chronic problem this semester: the wiring in the elevator isn’t right or something,” Kneuper said. “It was also smoking earlier this semester, and that’s why they had to shut it down, but apparently it also caught on fire this summer. It’s like the wiring keeps giving out.”

Kneuper said the issue is significant because of the amount of usage the library gets. 

“People use the library constantly for everything,” Kneuper said. “It’s a huge issue when the elevator goes out because people can’t access the second or third floors when they have classes or maybe a study group.”

This may be only a minor inconvenience for those who can take the stairs, but for others, Kneuper said it can create accessibility problems.

“People would come up to the desk and ask if they could use the elevator because they had accessibility needs and we had to tell them to use the stairs,” Kneuper said. “And it keeps happening. … It’s really old and nobody trusts it anymore.”

Elevator repairs are being addressed, Faller said.

“We are working with the elevator company to resolve this issue as quickly as possible but factors beyond the elevator contractors control such as availability of parts might affect the time of the repairs,” Faller said.