Digital Managing Editor

An unknown number of students living in Juniper Hall have been relocated to a local hotel after a fire alarm was set off last night, triggering the emergency sprinkler system and causing water damage to the building and it’s electrical system.

University Police received the call at 9:48 pm, leading to the evacuation and immediate condemnation of the building.

According to eyewitnesses, the sprinkler system was activated in the lobby area of the fourth floor of Juniper Hall, near the elevators. Water rushed down the elevator shaft and into the lobby area of the first floor.

Students waited outside Juniper for roughly an hour after the evacuation, until being moved into the multi-purpose room. From there, some students were relocated into other dormitories, while many others waited until 4 a.m. to be moved to Homewood Suites just south of campus.

According to Juan Miranda, an employee at Homewood Suites, the university rented 26 rooms to house the students on Monday morning. The hotel honored a negotiated rate of $100 per room to house the students.

Blaine Bowers, a undeclared freshman living in Juniper Hall, was at the library working on a paper when the alarm was set off. By the time he got back, “there were police cars and everyone had evacuated the building,” said Bowers.

He said students were then let into the building with an escort in order to retrieve any essential belongings before being relocated.

Mikaila Clay, a freshman living in Juniper Hall, was in her room on the fourth floor when the alarm went off. She was relocated to Homewood Suites.

“We thought it was a fire. My roommate was in the shower so I had to throw her clothes,” said Clay.

While she doesn’t think that any of her property was damaged, Clay said she only slept for three hours, and missed most of her classes Monday because of the incident.

“I emailed all my professors and they were understanding,” said Clay. “I’m just happy my stuff isn’t ruined.”

By 1 p.m. on Monday, students were being let back into their rooms in Juniper. A post on the CSUB Housing Instagram page notified students that an investigation is underway to determine the cause of the sprinklers going off. The post also confirmed that the system did not malfunction, implying that the alarm may have been pulled as a prank.