An overheated clothes dryer may have been the reason behind a fire scare at Foster Hall on Thursday night.

Resident Assistant Briana Saldana said she alerted the hall director to the situation as soon as she was informed of the “smoky” smell on the second floor. 

“There were some residents who came and told us that it was a little smoky on the second floor. I went upstairs to see what it was,” Saldana said. “When I was on my way to open up some windows the fire alarm went off.”

Joe Rodriguez, assistant hall director at Foster Hall, said the RAs followed protocol and directed everybody to exit the building. He said he gave a master key to the Fort Worth Fire Department who attended to the laundry room on the second floor.

“As far as I can tell there was no spark or fire, just smoke,” Rodriguez said.

At 8:50 p.m. Saldana made an announcement to residents on the lawn in front of Foster Hall that it was safe to return inside and suggested residents to keep their windows open for ventilation.

Freshman communication studies major and second floor resident Nick Sena said he had believed it was his clothes in the dryer that overheated.

“For the longest time I thought they were because I put my clothes in there an hour ago,” Sena said. “I just threw them in there and went downstairs to take a nap, and when I came back, the alarm started to go off and everyone came outside. I looked up, and I saw all the smoke in the window, and I just got really scared.”

Even though Sena said he had already made peace with the fact his clothes were ruined, he was happy to learn his clothes were actually in the dryer right above the one that overheated. However, Sena acknowledged that he would probably have to wash his clothes a second time.

Foster Residence Hall Director Libby Woolverton said the company that manufactured the clothes dryer would be contacted in order to rectify the situation.