Sunday, Oct. 17, an electrical incident at Sonoma State University led to the temporary closing of two buildings on campus.
An email was sent to SSU students and employees Sunday evening in which Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Karen Moranski, and Interim Vice President for Administration and Finance, Stan Nosek, provided more information on the incident which impacted both Nichols and Carson Hall.
On Sunday afternoon, smoke was reported inside of Nichols Halls. The Rancho-Adobe Fire Department was called to the scene and was able to quickly determine that while there was no immediate fire threat, the smoke was likely a result of an electrical issue within the building.
In response to the incident, and in order to prevent future damage, campus electricians shut off the electrical grid, turning off all power for Nichols and Carson Halls.
“Electricity was shut off in Carson Hall because it is on the same electrical grid as Nichols Hall… The buildings have been locked and no one will be able to enter while the electrical issue is being investigated and corrected,” read the email sent on Oct. 19.
The buildings were predicted to remain closed Monday, Oct. 18, and Tuesday, Oct. 19, following the incident. Faculty within the building were prompted to work from home for a few days and classes held in these two buildings were either moved to different buildings or temporarily moved online until the buildings could re-open.
The two buildings are where a majority of the classes, for the University’s School of Arts and Humanities and the School of Science and Technology, are held.
While there were no classes this semester in Nichols Hall, according to SSU’s Assistant Vice President for Strategic Communications, Julia Gonzalez, two classrooms in Carson Hall were impacted by the incident, affecting the three Chemistry classes and one Geography, Environment, and Planning class taking place in those classrooms.
“The number of students enrolled in these classes combined is 137. While the transformer replacement was being installed, the Chemistry labs in Carson Hall were moved to Darwin Hall, and the Geography, Environment, and Planning course moved online,” wrote Gonzalez in an email.
A second email, from Moranski and Nosek, was sent to the campus community on Tuesday, Oct. 19, providing an update on the electrical incident. While there was no new information on when the buildings may be able to re-open, the email confirmed that the incident was caused by a transformer failure.
“The State Fire Marshal has confirmed that a transformer overheated and failed on Sunday evening, and the cause of the failure is still being determined. A temporary transformer will be installed outside Nichols to restore power to the two buildings until a replacement transformer can be procured and installed,” read the email.
On Friday, Oct. 22, Gonzalez confirmed that a temporary transformer had been installed Thursday evening and that the buildings would be ready to re-open by the end of the day.
Built in 1975 and named after SSU’s founding president, Ambrose R. Nichols, Nichols Hall is one of the older buildings on campus, which is why it comes as less of a surprise that an older building like this would experience some electrical issues.
When asked if there was anything that could have been done to prevent the electrical incident, Gonzalez stated, “The transformer was inspected two years ago, and no issues were found. The cause of the transformer failure is being investigated, but sometimes equipment fails.”
