A malfunctioning fire alarm prompted two evacuations of the UA Main Library yesterday.

Sgt. Eugene Mejia, UAPD spokesperson, said that technicians had to override the entire system to stop the alarm.

"They allowed people back into the building while repairs were being made," Mejia said.

Jim Fromm, senior program coordinator at the library, said that students and faculty waited about 15 minutes to be allowed back into the building after the first alarm.

The second evacuation occurred 30 minutes later when the alarm was triggered again but those evacuated were allowed back into the library only minutes later, he said.

The alarms were triggered by a malfunctioning smoke detector on the first floor, said Joe Branaum, a senior technician in Facilities Management.

"One of the 896 censors in the building failed and caused the alarm," Branaum said. He added that there are 29,817 censors on campus and one tends to malfunction every six or seven months.