At approximately 3:50 p.m. on Tuesday, reports of smoke on the second floor of the Rogue Community College (RCC) Higher Education Center (HEC) at 101 S. Barnett Street prompted an evacuation of the building.

Medford Fire Department personnel arrived on the scene to investigate. Officials determined there was no active fire or structural damage. The source of the smoke was quickly identified and confirmed to pose no ongoing hazard.

Students and staff, who had been evacuated as a precaution, were cleared to safely reenter the building shortly after 4:30 p.m. No injuries were reported during the incident.

RCC released the following statement on the incident:

Employee and student safety is our highest priority, which is why we take incidents like this one seriously. We are grateful for the swift and thorough response from Medford Fire.

RCC has not disclosed the specific cause of the smoke but confirmed the situation was resolved without further disruption. Regular operations resumed immediately following the all-clear.