Texas Tech’s campus in Lubbock will be closed Thursday, Friday and next week for spring break after a manhole explosion apparently sparked a series of fires around the campus Wednesday evening, triggering power outages and evacuations, officials confirmed Wednesday night.
Updated at 11:50 p.m.: Texas Tech President shares messages after Wednesday night incident
Texas Tech President Lawrence Schovanec shared an email with the campus community late Wednesday after the explosion and fire in Tech’s tunnel system.
“Dear Texas Tech Family,
Wednesday (March 12) evening, an explosion occurred in a tunnel, causing a fire. The fire spread, leading to outages on the Texas Tech campus. Electricity and gas were shut down across both the Texas Tech and Health Sciences Center campuses in Lubbock to keep the fire from spreading further. The fire was successfully extinguished Wednesday evening.
Campus infrastructure is being thoroughly checked for safety as power comes back online following the shutdown. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
To allow for the thorough check of campus infrastructure and ensure our campus community’s safety, we will close campus on Thursday, March 13, and Friday, March 14. All classes will be canceled, and all non-essential personnel should work remotely if they are able to. This includes Texas Tech University System Administration employees. Human Resources will follow up with an email regarding work arrangements.
We want to share our deepest gratitude to our campus emergency response teams, as well as the City of Lubbock, Lubbock Fire Rescue, Lubbock Police Department, Lubbock Power & Light, Atmos Energy and others, for ensuring the safety of our campus community.
Updated at 10:45 p.m.: Lubbock fire, Tech police offer updates
Texas Tech police and Lubbock Fire Rescue officials offered updates during a news conference after 10 p.m. Thursday, warning the public to stay away from the campus as the situation remained active.
Caitlynn Jeffries, a public information officer, for the Texas Tech Police Department, said the incident began around 7 p.m. with an explosion in a manhole near the engineering key in the central part of campus near the 900 block of Boston Avenue.
“This explosion did cause a power outage across Texas Tech University, including the Health Sciences Center,” Jeffries said. “We did evacuate the engineering key and we’re asking that all public and unofficial personnel please avoid campus at this time.”
Lubbock Fire Rescue Capt. John Tunnell said fire crews responded to the reported explosion and quickly discovered other manhole covers with active fires and smoke issuing from them.
“This remains a very active scene as crews continue working with Texas Tech officials in mitigating this emergency,” Tunnell said.
Power was shut down to the entire campus as of late Wednesday. However, no injuries were reported.
It was not immediately clear what sparked the explosion and fires. The manholes appeared to be linked to the extensive tunnel system that runs under the Tech campus, carrying utilities.
Students were told they could go home early for spring break, with the campus closing Thursday and Friday ahead of the regularly scheduled break next week.
Students residing in on-campus residence halls are encouraged to delay departure until daylight Thursday morning, according to a news release. On-campus students in need of assistance or alternative accommodations should call (806) 789-6000 or email [email protected]. Faculty and staff are advised to work remotely, if possible and appropriate, until further notice.
Campus residence halls were not closed, but students not immediately in their dorms were asked to hold off returning to campus while emergency crews still worked the scene.
Updated at 10:20 p.m. infrastructure fires, explosion prompt Texas Tech closure ahead of Spring Break
Texas Tech officials announced campus will be closed Thursday and Friday ahead of spring break next week following a number of fires near manhole covers throughout campus and a power substation explosion. The fires and explosion prompted evacuations in the central part of campus and widespread power outages at Tech and the Texas Tech HSC campus.
Updated at 9:50 p.m.
An explosion at a manhole on campus has affected multiple locations and caused widespread power outages on the Tech and Texas Tech HSC campuses according to the latest Tech Alert campus notification shortly after 9:30 p.m. The engineering key remained evacuated and the public was asked to avoid the area. It was not immediately clear what sparked that explosion or how it related to what was previously called a power substation explosion.
Updated at 8:45 p.m.
Caitlynn Jeffries, a public information officer, for the Texas Tech Police Department, released a brief statement to the A-J via email around 8:45 p.m. Wednesday.
“An explosion at a substation has caused power outages at Texas Tech University and Texas Tech Health Sciences Center,” Jeffries wrote. “The Engineering Key has evacuated and we ask that all public and unofficial personnel avoid the campus. Power will be shut down to the entire campus while repairs are started.”
There were no immediate reports of casualties. An Avalanche-Journal reporter is at the scene on the Tech campus waiting for additional information from officials.
Tech notified the campus community about the incidents with an initial Tech Alert notification around 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. The first notification warned that there was a power outage on campus.
A subsequent alert confirmed the engineering key – near Broadway west of Boston Avenue – was being evacuated.
Lubbock Fire Rescue officials are asking the public to avoid the Texas Tech campus as fire crews respond to multiple fires, according to a statement LFR shared on social media.
“The public is asked to avoid the area while crews mitigate this emergency,” the post, which did not provide additional information, stated.
An explosion at a power substation left the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center without power, according to a Tech Alert about 8:45 p.m.
Original story: The Engineering Key on the central part of the Texas Tech campus was evacuated and the university’s emergency operations center was activated after as officials reported gas odors and a utility outage on the campus.
It was not immediately clear what prompted the outage or utility issues. Lubbock Power & Light’s outage map showed an outage impacting about 40 customers across the campus. The cause of the outage was listed as “forced outage.”
The A-J has reached out to Tech campus police requesting additional details. Follow lubbockonline.com for more on this story.
