Two firefighters enter the courtyard of 280. Smoke is seen rising out of the courtyard. Photo by Avery Ortlund (BFA 2027).
Update as of 2/14/25 5:15 pm: In another email from Martin Berger, John Pack, and now also Tom Buechele, Vice President for Campus Operations, the 280 Building will reopen on Saturday, February 15, at 7:00 a.m. Students will have limited access to the basement. Classes scheduled for spaces in the west basement will not meet in the west basement on Monday, and students will receive instructions from The Dean’s Office on where this alternate location is.
When a fire alarm goes off, it often leaves one wondering if it’s a drill or the real deal. On Feb. 13 at around 5:20 p.m. the fire alarms going off in the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s 280 building was no drill — a fire had started in the courtyard in the dust bin connected to the building’s woodshop.
“During our critique, there was a massive fire alarm, and then we just rapidly headed out. We didn’t see any direct smoke, but definitely there was something going on. I smelled something,” said Joshua Yang (BFA 2027), who was in a sophomore seminar class on the second floor of 280 at the time of the fire. A number of evening studios were in session during the time of the fire.
Students, faculty, and staff were evacuated from the building to the 280 pit. Multiple Chicago Fire Department trucks arrived shortly after the evacuation. No injuries were reported.
Students, staff, and faculty standing outside of the 280 building after being evacuated. Photo by Spencer Creighton.
“When we heard the alarm, we proceeded downstairs and out to the sidewalk, and waited there until we were advised by security that the building would be closed for an indeterminate time. This was around 5:30. I advised my students to go eat or wait in their dorms and meet back at 6:30 for further instructions. When we met at 6:30, we were advised that classes were canceled and that the building would be closed for several hours,” said Anya Davidson, a comics professor who was teaching at the time of the fire.
Spencer Creighton (BFA 2027) and Lauren Tsuchida (BFA 2027), along with the rest of Davidson’s class, were evacuated from the third floor of 280. Creighton noted that while some people quickly grabbed their belongings, others left valuable items like iPads and laptops.
“The stairway was very crowded as we all rushed out. The alarm was extremely loud, like ear ringing loudly. You could hear it from outside. You could see, if you looked down in the stairway, people from the basement level rushing up,” said Creighton. Students waited outside near the 280 pit until fire trucks arrived and had the crowd move further away from the building.
“I overheard someone saying that security told them that there was a fire in the woodshop,” said Tsuchida.
Yang also brought up the woodshop, as well as the metal shop, both of which are located in 280’s basement level.
Two emails were sent out by Martin Berger and John Pack, Provost and senior vice president of academic affairs and the executive director of campus security, respectively. The emails notified the SAIC community of the fire. In the second email, they wrote that the building didn’t sustain damage, but that the building will be closed through today, Friday, Feb. 14 in order for the smoke to clear and to assess the environment. Classes scheduled for Friday in 280 have been canceled.
As of now, it is unknown when 280 will be reopened, or if the graduate admissions events planned in 280 on Saturday, Feb 15 will be postponed or moved to a new location.
“We are aiming to have the building reopened this weekend,” said Interim Vice president of marketing and communications Bree Witt.
Students whose belongings were left in the building after the evacuation can come to 280 as early as 8 a.m. and wait in the lobby to be escorted to pick up their personal items.
The 280 Woodshop did not respond for comment about the fire.
