Brasenose College was partially evacuated following a chlorine gas leak, with the fire brigade called to the scene to deal with the incident.
According to students at the college, the alarm began at approximately 1.10pm, with one telling Cherwell that they had been instructed by two workers to “get out of the building immediately”.
Two of the college’s three quads were evacuated, with the domestic bursar telling students in an email that the fire service were “working with our teams to resolve as quickly as possible”.
Students were told by Brasenose’s bursar that it will be “some time” before typical access to college is restored.
Purav Menon, a 3rd year PPE student at Brasenose, told Cherwell that there had been “a fire alarm going off for the past five to ten minutes across most of the college buildings. Everyone’s standing outside and it’s not the usual drill.”
Additionally, Lawrence Thorn, a 1st year Experimental Psychology student at Brasenose, explained to Cherwell that he was walking up to his staircase when he heard two workers saying: “Quick, pull the fire alarm.” He was subsequently told to “get out of the building immediately”.
Despite the incident, one student at the college told Cherwell that “it seems like people aren’t really phased.” Before being evacuated, they added: “It seems like life is going on as normal – people are playing croquet, sitting around eating lunch.”
Students and staff have been further updated this afternoon by the domestic bursar, via an email that relayed that “the incident is taking longer than originally conveyed”. The email asked staff members who are able to go home to make the necessary arrangements to do so, and told students that dinner in hall this evening would not be going ahead due to the kitchens remaining inaccessible at this point, which will similarly affect breakfast tomorrow.
