An explosion on the Texas Tech University campus in Lubbock triggered fires and power outages Wednesday, prompting school officials to issue evacuation orders for several buildings and cancel classes for the remainder of the week.
An alert sent to the campus community around 8:45 p.m. initially reported the explosion at a substation, but a subsequent update indicated it occurred at a manhole. No injuries were reported, according to Lubbock Fire Rescue Capt. Jon Tunnell.
Videos shared on social media and local news outlets showed a significant presence of firefighters on campus, with fire and smoke emanating from at least one manhole cover.
The cause of the explosion remains unclear.
Power will be cut to the entire campus during repairs, stated Caitlynn Jeffries, a spokesperson for the university’s police department.
“You can go ahead and go home for Spring break. We are closing school down for the next couple days,” Jeffries announced.
The school also advised faculty and staff to work remotely until further notice.
Lubbock Fire Rescue responded to a potential gas leak around 7 p.m. local time and found “multiple manhole covers with smoke and fire issuing from them,” Tunnell reported.
“This remains a very active scene as crews continue to assist Texas Tech University in mitigating this emergency,” he added.
Texas Tech has over 40,000 students and occupies 1,800 acres in West Texas.
