LUBBOCK, Texas — An explosion at Texas Tech University set off fires and power outages, leading school officials to issue evacuation orders for multiple buildings and cancel classes for the rest of the week.
The explosion occurred Wednesday night in the Engineering Key area on campus, which was evacuated, AP News reports. Firefighters responded to the campus around 7 p.m. for reports of a possible gas leak. When firefighters arrived on campus, Lubbock Fire Rescue Captain Jon Tunnell said they found “multiple manhole covers with active fire and smoke issuing from them.” No injuries were reported.
“I heard an explosion and then saw a smoke ring, almost like a cartoon or something,” doctoral degree student Robert Gauthreaux III told KCBD-TV. “It traveled about 200 feet in the air.”
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Gauthreaux said he and other students inside the architecture building tried to help someone who was trapped inside an elevator.
An alert sent by the school around 8:45 p.m. said the explosion occurred at a substation but a later update said it was in a manhole. Videos posted on social media showed smoke billowing up from the street and flames leaping out of manhole covers. Some show neon green flames burning.
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Caitlynn Jeffries, a spokesperson for the university’s police department, said electricity and gas were being shut down to the entire campus while repairs were underway. The fire was successfully extinguished Wednesday night.
The school announced Wednesday night that classes would be canceled Thursday and Friday and that students could go home early for spring break.
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“You can go ahead and go home for spring break. We are closing school down for the next couple days,” Jeffries said at a news briefing, instructing faculty and staff to work remotely if possible until further notice.
According to Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, students residing in on-campus residence halls were encouraged to delay departure until daylight Thursday morning.
The Texas Tech campus sits on about 1,800 acres and has more than 40,000 students.
