Capitol evacuated due to false alarm
TALLAHASSEE (AP) – State officials and employees have returned to the Florida Capitol after evacuating because of a false fire alarm.
House Sergeant-at-Arms Ernie Sumner says it happened Tuesday after a lack of communication between two groups of contract workers.
One crew put the Capitol’s alarm system in the test mode so it wouldn’t sound during sprinkler tests. A crew from another company working on the alarm system inadvertently put it back in the active mode, and it went off during the sprinkler test.
Just the first four floors of the 22-story building were evacuated. The alarm sounds only on floors closest to where a fire – or in this case a false alarm – occurs.