Stephens

300 PPM in the Basement: A Faulty Boiler, a Resident Adviser's 911 Call, and 127 Displaced Students at Stephens College

AI-generated · every claim is source-linked

Wednesday, January 28, 2026MOgas leakemergency notificationmedium confidence

Confirmed Threat

On the night of Wednesday, January 28, 2026, a carbon monoxide detector activated in Searcy Hall at Stephens College, a small women's-focused college in Columbia, Missouri. A resident adviser called 911 shortly after 5:00 PM CST; Columbia Fire measured carbon monoxide at up to 100 parts per million in living areas and as high as 300 ppm in Searcy Hall's basement, and firefighters and police evacuated both Searcy and Prunty Halls. In all, 127 students were displaced and about 21 were evaluated for exposure; the cause was traced to faulty boilers, and students returned to the reopened dorms by early February 2026.

Alerts: 2
Response: —
Killed: 0
Injured: 21

Institution

Stephens College

Private Bachelors · MO

~800 students

Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

2 messages in sequence · 1 verified verbatim

Some alert texts below are approximate reconstructions from news coverage, not confirmed verbatim transcripts. Reconstructed texts are shown in italic with a dashed border. Verified verbatim texts have a solid border and are marked accordingly.

INITIAL ALERTEmailEvening of January 28, 2026 — after the 911 call shortly after 5:00 PM CST

Approximate reconstructionReconstructed from KOMU 8 and Columbia Missourian coverage of the January 28, 2026 evacuation393 chars

Stephens College Emergency Notice: Searcy and Prunty Residence Halls have been evacuated due to elevated carbon monoxide levels detected in Searcy Hall. The Columbia Fire and Police Departments are on scene. Students from these halls should not return to the buildings and should report to designated temporary housing. Anyone who feels ill should seek medical evaluation. Updates will follow.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Reconstructed from coverage: KOMU and the Columbia Missourian reported that the Columbia Fire and Police Departments evacuated Searcy and Prunty Halls after a Searcy Hall CO detector activated and that President Lundeen described the response in an email to employees, students and families; the exact wording of the initial notification is not preserved, so this is marked not verbatim-confirmed

The 911 call was made by a resident adviser 'shortly after 5 p.m.' after the building's carbon monoxide sensor activated, per President Shannon Lundeen's account reported by the Columbia Missourian

Columbia Fire measured CO at a maximum of 100 ppm across living areas and floors and as high as 300 ppm in Searcy Hall's basement — the basement reading is well into the range that causes headache, nausea and impaired judgment with sustained exposure

FOLLOW-UPEmailFollowing days, late January 2026 — President Lundeen's community message

Verified verbatimDirect quote from Stephens College President Shannon B. Lundeen's message, reproduced verbatim in KOMU 8 Target 8 reporting200 chars

I recognize and sincerely apologize for the stress, fear, disruption, and anxiety that the January 28 carbon monoxide incident and subsequent evacuation of Searcy and Prunty Residence Halls has caused

Verbatim quote: KOMU 8's Target 8 reproduced this sentence word-for-word from President Shannon B. Lundeen's message to the community; it is the exact institutional language and is preserved here with its original phrasing

Lundeen also confirmed that carbon monoxide detectors were installed on each floor of every residence hall and that Peak Climate Heating & Air Conditioning was on campus replacing the boilers in Prunty and Searcy Halls

The apology framing — leading with 'stress, fear, disruption, and anxiety' — is an unusually direct acknowledgment of community harm for a campus emergency follow-up, reflecting the close-knit residential character of a roughly 800-student college

Context

Background

Stephens College is a small, historically women's college in Columbia, Missouri, with roughly 800 students. On the night of Wednesday, January 28, 2026, a carbon monoxide detector activated in Searcy Hall; a resident adviser called 911 shortly after 5:00 PM CST. The Columbia Fire and Police Departments responded and measured carbon monoxide at up to 100 parts per million across living areas and as high as 300 ppm in Searcy Hall's basement, then evacuated both Searcy and Prunty Halls. In all, 127 students were displaced into other residence halls or hotels, and about 21 students were evaluated for carbon monoxide exposure at Boone Hospital before being returned to campus; no serious injuries were reported. The college traced the leak to faulty boilers in the two halls. In a follow-up community message, President Shannon B. Lundeen apologized for 'the stress, fear, disruption, and anxiety' the incident caused, confirmed that CO detectors had been installed on every floor of every residence hall, and said new boilers were being installed in Prunty and Searcy. Students returned to the reopened halls by approximately February 2, 2026. The case is a clear, well-documented carbon-monoxide emergency at an under-represented small private college, with one institutional message preserved verbatim and the initial evacuation notice reconstructed from same-day coverage.

Analysis

Key Findings

Carbon monoxide reached up to 100 ppm in living areas and as high as 300 ppm in Searcy Hall's basement, traced to faulty boilers, displacing 127 students and prompting about 21 medical evaluations with no serious injuries

President Shannon B. Lundeen's verbatim community apology — for 'the stress, fear, disruption, and anxiety' the incident caused — is an unusually direct acknowledgment of community harm in a campus emergency follow-up

The college responded with a structural fix: CO detectors installed on every floor of every residence hall, boiler replacement in Searcy and Prunty, and standardized CO-detector use across campus including academic buildings

Outcome

No deaths. About 21 students were medically evaluated for carbon monoxide exposure; no serious injuries were reported. 127 students were temporarily relocated to other residence halls or hotels. The college traced the leak to faulty boilers, installed carbon monoxide detectors on every floor of every residence hall, replaced the Searcy and Prunty boilers, and standardized CO-detector use across campus, including academic buildings. Students returned to the two halls by approximately February 2, 2026.

Provenance

Sources

News
Stephens College residence halls evacuated due to carbon monoxide (KOMU 8)
komu.com
archived copy
News
Gas leak displaces more than 100 Stephens College students (KBIA)
kbia.org
archived copy
News
Stephens College closes 2 dorms after carbon monoxide issues led to evacuations (ABC17News)
abc17news.com
archived copy
News
Stephens College carbon monoxide exposure was caused by 'a number of variables' (KOMU 8 Target 8)
komu.com
archived copy
News
Stephens College students return to campus days after carbon monoxide scare (ABC17News)
abc17news.com
archived copy
News
Stephens College students evacuated after gas leak detected (Columbia Missourian)
columbiamissourian.com
archived copy

Cite this case

Campus Alert Archive. "Stephens College: 300 PPM in the Basement: A Faulty Boiler, a Resident Adviser's 911 Call, and 127 Displaced Students at Stephens College." Incident of January 28, 2026. Added June 2026. https://campusalertarchive.com/case/stephens-college-carbon-monoxide-evacuation-2026-01-28/

Download case JSON

Alert text quoted on this page remains the work of the issuing institution; the archive is a secondary source.

Alert Sequence

Background

Key Findings

Sources

Related Cases