NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WVEC) -- A "smoke scare" caused a dining hall on the campus of Christopher Newport University to be evacuated Thursday afternoon.
Around 1:45 p.m., fire crews were called to The Commons dining hall on a report that an employee thought that he saw smoke coming from around a door jamb in the kitchen area.
Students and staff evacuated the building prior to the fire department's arrival.
Fire crews were not able to locate any smoke or indication of fire in the interior or exterior of the building.
The crew did notice indications of an unusual heat signature in the kitchen area near an electrical panel and Dominion Virginia Power was called so that the electrical power for the building could be isolated.
With further assistance from CNU's maintenance personnel, it was determined that the heat signature was coming from a hot water pipe.
The building was turned back over to CNU around 2:35 p.m. so that they could resume normal operations.
