University of Tennessee at Chattanooga officials who were itching to get out of the office on a beautiful day got their wish Friday.
Workers and top university officials had to abandon three administrative office buildings after discovering that fleas had infested one of the buildings.
The fleas appeared to be concentrated in Hooper Hall, UTC spokesman Chuck Cantrell said, but that building is attached to Founders Hall and Race Hall.
Officials decided to evacuate all three buildings.
A student walks past Hooper and Race Halls, two of the oldest classroom buildings on the UTC campus, in 2014.Cantrell, whose office is in Founders Hall, said he and other officials were working from home or elsewhere on campus Friday. He said he couldn't pinpoint exactly how the fleas were discovered - he said there were no reports of meetings being disrupted by scratching frenzies.
The flea invasion didn't give students a day off from classes.
Cantrell said no student dorms or classrooms were affected by the flea outbreak.
"The affected offices are not even student service offices," he said.
He said exterminators hope to rid all three buildings of the fleas in time for them to reopen Monday morning.
He said university officials weren't sure how the fleas got into the building.
"We suspect it is maybe squirrels or something else that has gotten underneath the building," he said.