Dozens of students and faculty were displaced Tuesday morning as firefighters put out a small fire in the Chemistry Building on the southwest side of the North Oval.

The fire was located in a closet in room 326, Norman Deputy Fire Chief Jim Bailey said. Three fire engine companies and 15 firefighters were dispatched to the scene, he said.

A call about an alarm was received at about 10:16 a.m., and firefighters extinguished the fire in less than 10 minutes, Bailey said. Firefighters stayed in the building to clear smoke for at least an hour.

The cause of the fire and the amount of damage was unknown as of Tuesday morning, Bailey said. OU Fire Marshal Kevin Leach will investigate.

Daniel Garrison, biochemistry senior, was in a physical chemistry lab in the building at the time the alarm sounded. He said everyone was evacuated, and students had to sit outside the building on the North Oval while firefighters were inside.

Garrison said he did not see or smell smoke as he left the building, but he knew people who did.

“Somebody said he smelled smoke when he went back in to get some crackers,” he said.

Garrison said he thought the fire was put out quickly because of the firefighters’ movement.

“The firefighters seem to be moving at a more leisurely pace,” he said. “They don’t seem too frantic.”