17 people sickened by incident on WCU campus

CULLOWHEE, N.C. (WLOS) - Investigators are still looking into the cause of a possible hazmat situation that happened on the Western Carolina University campus on Thursday morning.

Western Carolina University received a call at the Health and Human Sciences Building just before 9 a.m. Responding authorities found multiple patients in need of care. Harris EMS was called as multiple students began complaining of light-headedness and other symptoms.

“We then at that point evacuated the building and locked it down for the safety of everybody in the building,” WCU Emergency Services Director Shane Stovall said.

School officials later said during a press conference that seven people were taken to the hospital for treatment. Six patients have since been released. Among those treated were six students and one teacher.

WCU Police, Emergency Services and Facilities Management, along with Jackson County Emergency Management and the Cullowhee Volunteer Fire Department responded to the scene.

The building was evacuated and placed on lockdown.

The State of North Carolina’s Rapid Response Team 6 of Asheville was requested to assist the responding units in determining the cause of the incident.

“At this time, we have seven people that were transported to the hospital, six of those people have been released. But we have several dozen that were also evaluated by WCU Health Services,” Stovall said.

The probe is ongoing into the nature of the hazardous material incident.

“The incident is still under a thorough investigation and a cause has not yet been determined,” Stovall said.

A Regional Response Team was called in from Asheville to help with more specialized equipment.

“Our tools can detect certain amounts of gases for different types of gases. They have more expansive tools that they received through their Hazmat team. So, we decided to call them in for mutual aid,” Stovall said. “We decided to call them in for mutual aid to help assist with the investigation.”

The campus was warned to stay away from the site.

“They emailed us, and they told us that they evacuated the building and that to not head over that way and they would let us know whenever we can go back over there,” WCU junior Katie Forss said.

WCU President Dr. Kelli Brown is emphasizing safety.

“Our primary objective is always the safety of our students, faculty and staff,” she said.

All day and evening classes at the Health and Human Science building have been canceled Thursday. Classes and events on the main campus, the Biltmore Park instructional site in Asheville, and online continue as scheduled.

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