Firefighters responded to reports of smoke in Merrill Hall this afternoon.

Construction workers had been tearing up the roof using torches, said Lt. Thomas Etcher of the Kent State Police Department. Smoke was reported near an elevator shaft, he said.

“They’re looking for the source of the smoke,” Etcher said. “They can’t find any active flames.

A fire truck’s ladder extended to the roof of the building as two firefighters stood at the top. They pumped water from a nearby fire hydrant as a precaution.

This is the second time the fire alarm went off, Etcher said. They had responded to a similar call earlier in the morning.

– Kiera Manion-Fischer