False alarm evacuates Wayne County Courthouse
By Staff Reports
Published in News on October 29, 2009 1:46 PM
The Wayne County Courthouse was briefly evacuated on Wednesday morning after a false alarm involving cigarette smoke, a county official said.
County Buildings and Grounds Facilities Director Sue Farmer said that someone pulled a fire alarm after smelling cigarette smoke in a fourth-floor men's bathroom.
"It appeared somebody was smoking a cigarette in the restroom," Ms. Farmer said. "Someone else walked into the restroom behind them, and evidently smelled what they thought was smoke, and in turn pulled a fire alarm."
After the courthouse was evacuated between 9 and 10 a.m., the Goldsboro Fire Department responded. The building was soon cleared for re-entry, Ms. Farmer said.
"There was no fire found, we walked upstairs, you could see the remnants of cigarette ashes in the toilet," Ms. Farmer said.
The false alarm follows three recent actual fires at the courhouse, all involving a toilet paper roll tossed above the ceiling tiles in the men's bathrooms, authorities have said.