Wednesday night all 150 Carolina girls were evacuated from their dorm.

Security paced the halls as ambulances and fire trucks arrived to investigate a mysterious fume floating around the first floor hallway.

“I started coughing, my throat was burning, and my eyes started to water,” said Erica Edmondson, freshman and first floor resident

Girls sensed the odorless fume as soon as they opened their doors

“It felt like somebody put pepper in my lungs,” freshman resident Caroline Adams said.

Room after room, girls flooded out of the dorm, perched on the steps, many with books and laptops in hand.

“ I could tell it was going to be a long process so I grabbed my Mac and hauled my ass out of there, my first paper was due in a few hours, ” freshman resident Jayna Roberts said.

After they realized the intensity of the situation, a few of the girls fled to their RA’s room to caution her about the problem. Liz Adcock took one breath before she also started to cough; she then called security.

It took a while for the firefighters to figure out the cause of the fumes.

“We were the contaminated group,” said freshman and first-floor resident Jennifer Hempel.

The firemen discovered the fume was caused by a bathroom exhaust fan malfunction.

In an e-mail to the girls of Carolina, Niki Turley, director of residence life explained that, “the plastic fan blades were rubbing on the housing of the unit and the constant abrasion created some heat and the blades began to erode away and, at the same time, emit a melted plastic odor.”

The bathroom was barricaded for the night but the girls were let back into their dorm around 1:30 a.m. A crew came the next day to prevent future damages.

Some girls continued to feel nauseous, dizziness, chest pressure.

Twelve girls were checked out by the EMTs and three girls decided to take a trip to the hospital.

“I’ve never rode in an ambulance before,” said freshman resident Erica Edmondson, also commenting that it was about a three hour wait once they arrived.

The girls were treated for smoke inahlation and told to drink lots of water and to rest.

Days after the incident a couple of the girls are still experiencing mild symptoms.

Additional horns and strobes will be installed in the shower area, after several girls missed the fire alarms while taking showers.

Reporter: Angela Aslanian - 09/19/07