Western Carolina building evacuated after ‘hazardous materials incident,’ university says

Western Carolina University’s health and human services building was evacuated and placed on lockdown Thursday after a “hazardous materials incident,” an official at the North Carolina campus said.

Officials asked people to stay clear of the building on Little Savannah Road, university spokesman Bill Studenc said.

The school later announced it was canceling all classes and activities in the building for the day. Other classes will continue as normal.

Campus emergency medical staff responded to the building around 9 a.m. and found several people in need of care. Paramedics from Harris Regional Hospital in nearby Sylva were summoned after students began complaining of light-headedness and other symptoms, Studenc said.

Seventeen people showed symptoms, some of whom were taken to the hospital, he said. The number of patients transported to medical centers was unclear.

In a tweet just before 10 a.m. ET, the university said campus and county public safety officials “are currently on scene at a hazardous materials incident at the Health and Human Sciences Building. The building has been evacuated at this time and locked down. Please stay away from the area until it is cleared.”

The campus of about 12,000 students is located in rural Cullowhee, about an hour’s drive west of Asheville.