Campus Alert Archive
UM

A Boiler Fire at the Heat Plant Briefly Emptied the Missoula Campus

MTfireemergency notificationmedium confidence

On January 15, 2025, a fire broke out in one of two boiler units at the University of Montana's heat and power plant in Missoula. Missoula Fire was dispatched at 3:16 p.m. and UM Police sent a campus-wide emergency notification a little after 3:30 p.m. telling building workers to evacuate. The fire was quickly extinguished with no injuries and roughly $30,000 in damage, and the all-clear came about half an hour later.

Alerts
2
Response
—
Killed
—
Injured
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Institution
University of Montana
Public R1 · MT
UM Alert
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

2 messages in sequence

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 ALERTmulti-channel
Approximate reconstruction154 chars
UM Alert: A fire is being fought at the campus heat plant. Building workers should evacuate now. Avoid the area near the power plant until further notice.

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

Reconstructed: MTPR and the Missoulian reported UM Police distributed an emergency notification to the entire Missoula campus a little after 3:30 p.m. MST telling building workers to evacuate; the precise text was not archived.
Missoula Fire was dispatched at 3:16 p.m. MST, before the campus notification went out, reflecting the lag between the fire call and the mass alert.
ALL CLEARmulti-channel
Approximate reconstruction156 chars
UM Alert: All clear. The fire at the heat plant has been extinguished and there were no injuries. The evacuation is lifted and normal operations may resume.

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

Reconstructed: MTPR reported the all-clear was given about a half hour after the evacuation notification and that no one was injured.
This is a true all-clear: it lifted the evacuation and declared the fire out, rather than maintaining avoidance.
Context

Background

The January 15, 2025 fire at the University of Montana centered on critical campus infrastructure rather than an academic building. According to Montana Public Radio, Missoula Fire was dispatched at 3:16 p.m. MST to the campus heat and power plant, where a fire had started in one of the plant's two recently updated boiler units, sending heavy smoke from the building. The Missoulian reported UM Police sent a campus-wide notification a little after 3:30 p.m. directing building workers to evacuate, and the all-clear followed roughly half an hour later. The Montana Kaimin student newspaper noted scattered power outages on campus during the incident. Damage was estimated near $30,000 and no one was hurt. Heating-plant fires are a distinctive category: they threaten utilities and habitability for an entire campus, not just one occupied building.
Analysis

Key Findings

A fire started in one of two boiler units at UM's heat and power plant on January 15, 2025
Missoula Fire was dispatched at 3:16 p.m. MST and UM Police sent a campus-wide evacuation notice a little after 3:30 p.m.
The fire was extinguished with no injuries and roughly $30,000 in damage, and the all-clear came about 30 minutes after the alert
Scattered campus power outages occurred, illustrating how a utility-plant fire can ripple across an entire campus
Outcome
Crews knocked down the fire with no injuries; damage was estimated near $30,000. Scattered campus power outages occurred during the incident, and an origin investigation followed.
Provenance

Sources

  1. News
    UM heating plant fire prompts brief evacuation - Montana Public Radio
    mtpr.org
  2. News
    University of Montana heating plant catches fire - Missoulian
    missoulian.com
  3. Student Paper
    Fire breaks out in campus power plant - Montana Kaimin
    montanakaimin.com
Tags
building-firemontanaevacuationemergency-notificationutility-infrastructurepower-outage
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion