Incense sparks fire alarm at college; 700 evacuated

Saudi Red Crescent transferred four students to Al- Qunfudah General hospital to be treated for anxiety after a fire alarm went off in one of the buildings in Al-Qunfudah College on Wednesday morning.
The college’s safety unit and faculty members managed to evacuate 700 students before the arrival of Civil Defense teams at the site. Col. Saeed Sarhan, media spokesman of the Civil Defense department in Makkah, revealed that the fire alarm went off due to incense being ignited in one of the classrooms.
The operations room at the Civil Defense was notified of the incident at 9:06 a.m. on Wednesday and immediately dispatched firefighters, rescue teams and ambulances to aid the students’ evacuation. Col. Sarhan said the students were moved outside the building as a precautionary measure. Upon further inspection the firefighters discerned that the building was safe and no fire had taken place.
Four students were transported to a nearby hospital as a result of the panic and stress associated with the evacuation. They were later discharged in good health.
According to Col. Sarhan, the Civil Defense teams in Al-Qunfudah immediately undertook an investigation and discovered that incense had been lit in one of the rooms causing the fire alarm to go off. The alarm was reprogrammed and students were able to return to their classes shortly thereafter.