UT Dallas Police and the Richardson Fire Department responded to a fire alarm pulled by a staff member who had smelled smoke in the Erik Jonsson Academic Center late Thursday afternoon. The building was evacuated as Fire Department personnel conducted a smoke investigation.

UT Dallas Police Chief Larry Zacharias said the cause appeared to be a burned-out motor or belt on an air conditioner component in the building’s basement, and the smell of smoke had permeated the building.

The building was reopened after Emergency Management staff cleared out the smell of smoke.