A mysterious blue haze sent Ball State University students and staff in Teachers College outside into the rain and cold air Wednesday morning.
Janie Carter, office coordinator for the Office of Teacher Education Services, said at about 8 a.m. she was preparing for the day when she noticed an odor and a strange-colored smoke on the ninth floor where she works.
"We were trying to begin our day when we noticed there was kind of a blue cloud," she said. "There was a strong odor of burning plastic."
Carter notified her supervisor, who told her to call the Ball State Police Department because the alarm had not gone off, she said. The police instructed her to pull the fire alarm and evacuate the building, she said.
Director of engineering and operations Jim Lowe said the fire alarms did not automatically activate because there probably was not enough smoke in the air.
Robert Fey, associate director of public safety, said the Ball State Police Department and Muncie Fire Department responded to the call at 8:03 a.m. Reports indicated there was smoke on the seventh, eight and ninth floor of the building, he said.
Police officers, firefighters and staff from Facilities Planning and Management inspected the entire building to find the source of the smoke and determined there had not been a fire, he said. People were allowed back in the building at 9:09 a.m., he said.
Sondra Thompson, secretary for the Office of the Dean, said the evacuees had to find shelter in other buildings to stay warm.
"We were out of the building for a little over an hour," she said. "It was cold and windy. Most people went to the [Art and Journalism Building] to keep warm until they could return."
Danny Cox, environmental control and chill plant supervisor, said one of two bearings in a fan in the ventilation system overheated, which caused the smoke.
"We believe the seal that holds the grease into the bearing started failing," he said. "When that started leaking, lubricant starting leaking and the bearing began getting hot."
Lowe said the smoke probably had a blue tint because of the grease in it, but it was not toxic.
Cox said the bearings used in the ventilation system have a lifespan of 29,000 hours. The bearings were used non-stop for almost 10 years, which meant the bearing that overheated was at the end of its life.
"It's like a wheel bearing on a car," he said. "After so long, it'll give out. It's mechanical. Eventually everything fails."
The university will replace both bearings in the ventilation system, Cox said.
"Normally when this happens, once one bearing starts to fail, then the other one will fail soon," he said. "It's routine maintenance."
Each bearing costs about $900 and has to be shipped from Kentucky, Cox said. He does not know how long the delivery will take, but once the bearings are received the installment will only take about eight hours, he said.
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