Series of fire alarms confusing passengers at RDU

RDU Airport (WTVD) -- A series of fire alarms reported at RDU airport during the past few weeks have confused passengers taking to social media.

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The latest one happened Tuesday morning just before 7 a.m. inside Terminal Two. Andrew Sawyer, an RDU spokesperson, told ABC11 it was the result of a steamy shower inside the American Airlines Admiral's Club.

Another incident occurred Monday night when airport officials say a baggage tug used to move luggage hit a sprinkler head in a baggage sorting area under Terminal Two, rupturing a water pipe and triggering the fire alarm.

Some passengers evacuated the building for about 20 minutes.

Others remained inside.

"Before we knew whether it was a fire or something else, people were scrambling. There was no organization by the airport, and if this had been a real fire, people could have died last night," said passenger Dr. Jane Ruby.

A fire alarm was also triggered on July 11 around noon inside Terminal Two.

On June 30, another alarm was reported in the same terminal.

Sawyer said there have been five fire alarms campus-wide since June 30 and 58 within the past year.

"We have not had any false alarms," Sawyer said. "However, many times, the term "false alarm" is used to describe non-fire reasons for activation, such as steam in an airline club shower, popcorn in a break room microwave or similar type of incident. Our records do not indicate that any alarm activation had an impact on flight status."