A fire broke out on campus yesterday around 11 a.m. in Lazenby Hall, sending two OSU police officers to the hospital but not injuring any OSU students or faculty.

About 50 Columbus firefighters needed 15 to 20 minutes to contain the fire, said battalion fire chief Doug Smith.

“The staff at OSU made the initial call to the fire department, saying that they smelled smoke in the area and … once we got here, we were able to locate it in the attic area at the rear (west side) of the building,” Smith said.

Once on the scene, firefighters were directed to the top floor of the building.

Smith said the firefighters smelled smoke coming from the third and fourth floors. On their way to investigate, they saw the smoke leaking out of the rear of the building, he said.

Students and faculty were safely evacuated from the building with the assistance of construction workers working behind Lazenby Hall.

“I didn’t see smoke or anything,” said Susan Wise, a graduate student in psychology. “We were going to have a meeting and the alarm went off. We noticed the construction guys looking and figured something was going on.”

Aaron Wichman, a graduate student in psychology, said the situation inside the building was calm.

“The alarm went off, we locked up the lab and left,” Wichman said. “I didn’t see anything and I didn’t smell smoke. There was no commotion; people calmly left.”

“Students were not in danger at any time,” Smith said. “The fire alarm went off and the building was evacuated.”

Bruce Anderson and Jim Compston, both OSU police officers, were the first emergency personnel to arrive on the scene. Both were taken to the OSU medical center to be treated for smoke inhalation as a precautionary measure, said Rick Amweg, acting assistant chief and public information officer for the Department of Public Safety.

Both were released yesterday afternoon, Amweg said.

“They’re both doing fine,” he said.

Multiple signs were posted on the entrance to the building yesterday afternoon announcing the relocation and cancellation of classes. One sign read: “No access until Monday April 25 (probably).”

Another sign stated that all classes in the building were canceled both yesterday and today.

The building primarily houses the Department of Psychology.

“It’s a general classroom building,” Amweg said. “My guess is quite a few (students were evacuated), but I have no guess on how many.”

A statement posted on the Department of Psychology’s Web site said “it is currently anticipated that (Lazenby) will be closed until Monday. Although not definite, access on Monday is probable.”

Officials could not speculate on the cause of the fire, but an investigation is pending.

The fire is the second to occur on the OSU campus this month. A fire broke out in Newman-Wolfram Laboratory on April 15, causing an estimated $25,000-$30,000 worth of damage.

Lantern sports editor Jeff Svoboda and Lantern arts editor David Cross contributed to this story.