Mabee Library was popping on Wednesday afternoon, during a fire alarm scare in the basement of the library.

Fire alarms sounded at approximately 2:30 p.m., and firefighters and Washburn Police responded to reports of smoke coming from the basement. After Mabee staff evacuated the building, firefighters searched the building and found the source of the smoke.

Burnt popcorn. A bag of buttery popcorn sat in a trashcan in the staff break room after being discarded. The microwave was open, and a thick smell of crispy snacks permeated the air.

After discovering the burnt popcorn bag, staff and students returned to their daily studies.

“I’m sorry that students lost valuable study time to this situation,” said Sean Bird, assistant dean of library studies. “Safety of our students and staff is our number one priority, and our staff is trained to evacuate everyone in the building in situations like this.”

The person responsible for burning the popcorn is unknown, but hopefully the annoyance of a library fire alarm will deter them from attempting a popcorn fiasco again.

“We just had a very crazy microwaved popcorn issue,” said Bird.