Category Archives: Residence Hall/Dormitory

Residence Hall/Dormitory, Residential

Duluth, MN – Fire sprinkler contains dorm room fire after refrigerator malfunctioned; No injuries reported

The Duluth Fire Department responded to an alarm in a dorm at 1105 Kirby Drive Monday night.

They arrived just before 8 p-m to find a small fire in a dorm room due to a refrigerator malfunction.

The fire was contained by the building’s sprinkler system and extinguished by firefighters. The dorm room was not occupied at the time of the fire and nobody was injured.

Water from the sprinklers caused some damage to adjoining rooms which remained habitable after cleanup.

Superficial damages were estimated at 2500 dollars to the room and contents.

Residence Hall/Dormitory, Residential

Glassboro, NJ – Fire sprinklers contain dorm fire after hoverboard catches fire

Rowan’s Emergency Medical Services and the Glassboro Fire Department responded to a reported fire at Holly Pointe Commons on Wednesday, Sept. 9, and transported one person for injuries due to the incident, according to Vernon Howery, the chief of Rowan University EMS.

According to Michael Kantner, the assistant vice president of public safety and office of emergency management, the fire occurred early in the morning around 1-2 a.m.

Vice President for University Relations Joe Cardona said the fire source was a hoverboard (self-balancing scooter). The Glassboro Fire Marshal’s Office is currently investigating the situation, as they do for every alarm; however, they wouldn’t comment on the definitive reason for the hoverboard’s fire. 

“[The hoverboard] is the crux of their investigation. They are looking at all avenues, and there haven’t been any determinations yet,” Kantner said.

Hoverboards are no stranger to fire departments around the United States. Since 2015, there have been many incidents involving their combustion. They are prohibited on school property by Rowan’s Housing Policy regarding engines. The United States International Trade Commission also prohibits them.

According to the Federal Register, in 2016 the International Trade Commission issued a ban on various hoverboard manufacturers due to patent claims made by Segway Inc. Many of the manufacturers listed are internationally based in countries that lack strict regulations on their products’ safety.

Purdue University’s school newspaper, The Exponent, documented a similar hoverboard fire on Sept. 14, 2020 inside one of their dorms Shreve Hall. Both Rowan and Purdue’s incidents occurred early in the morning. 

The sprinkler system in Holly Pointe caused water damage to the surrounding areas in the first floor B-pod. 

“Thank goodness for the sprinkler system, that fire was basically knocked down by the time the fire department showed up,” Kantner said. “They did sustain some water damage in the hallway of B-pod and in rooms adjacent to the incident location.” 

Currently there are no reports on the number of students and dorms affected by water damage. Rowan EMS reported only one individual requiring medical attention due to the fire, and their condition is unknown.

An update will be available at thewhitonline.com when and if appropriate.

Residence Hall/Dormitory, Residential

Missoula, MT – Dorm hall fire sprinkler system puts out fire; No injuries reported

Officials with Flathead Valley Community College confirmed that a fire broke out in Founders Hall Sunday morning.

FVCC says no one was injured in the fire. They added that the building’s fire and sprinkler system worked properly, and the Kalispell Fire Department put the fire out.

Campus officials said some students were still living in the dorm. While only a few were affected by the fire, they say all of them were relocated to other rooms.

Authorities were not able to confirm the cause of the fire.

Residence Hall/Dormitory, Residential

Louisville, KY – Sprinkler system contains fire after man sets trash can in dorm at U of L on fire

 A man was arrested Saturday after police said he started a fire inside a University of Louisville dormitory bathroom. 

According to an arrest report, police took Antonio Spuria, 18, into custody after witnesses and evidence pointed to him setting a 55-gallon garbage can on fire around 2 a.m. Saturday inside the men’s restroom on the second floor of Miller Hall Dormitory, located on U of L’s Belknap Campus. 

Multiple students were inside the dorm at the time of the fire, and the building had to be evacuated for several hours while crews with the Louisville Fire Department cleaned up and repaired its sprinkler system, according to Spuria’s arrest report. 

Spuria was booked at Louisville Metro Corrections around 2:30 p.m. Saturday and was charged with first-degree arson and wanton endangerment, according to his arrest report. 

Residence Hall/Dormitory, Residential

Athens, GA – Fire contained to single dorm room thanks to fire sprinkler system; No injuries reported

While a fire damaged one room at a University of Georgia student dormitory over the weekend, the ensuing water damage means many other students were affected.

As a result, 54 students have been temporarily displaced from Myers Hall, which is off South Lumpkin Street on UGA’s campus, university spokesman Greg Trevor told AJC.com.

The fire took place early Sunday morning and was isolated to a single room, triggering the sprinkler in that room, Trevor said in an emailed statement. 

The Athens-Clarke County Fire Department responded and were able to quickly extinguish the fire. No one was injured, and students were able to reenter the building later that morning.

However, the water damage affected 54 students, the statement said. The university is providing temporary housing for those affected while the cleanup is completed. The places where those students will be housed was not provided.

The damages are expected to be repaired by Monday, allowing those students to move back into the dorm.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation. AJC.com has reached out to the fire department for more information.

Residence Hall/Dormitory, Residential

Tempe, AZ – High-rise fire at Arizona State University residence hall kept in check by fire sprinklers; No injuries reported

More than three dozen people have been displaced after a fire broke out at a high-rise apartment building in Tempe on Friday morning.  

When crews arrived, smoke was coming from the 8th floor, according to the Tempe Fire Department. 

Fire and medical units from Tempe, Phoenix and Mesa responded to the fire call at the University Towers on Mill Avenue and University Drive around 11 a.m.

Firefighters say they found food burning on the stove in one unit. The building’s sprinklers went off and kept the fire from spreading.

The high-rise is a residence hall for Arizona State University students. 

About 40 people from 16 units are unable to return to their apartment primarily because of water damage, according to ASU. 

No injuries were reported. 

ASU’s Fire Marshal Office is investigating. 

Residence Hall/Dormitory, Residential

West Lafayette, IN – Fire sprinklers control fifth floor dorm room fire at Purdue University

When Hawkins residents were roused by the blaring fire alarms Jan. 23 at 2:43 a.m., most assumed it was a badly timed drill.

The residents on the east wing of the fifth floor saw the smoke.

A resident’s reverse osmosis water filter had caught fire. Its owner was not in the room at the time, and the sprinklers were able to contain the small fire. No residents were harmed, but the lasting flooding left many of their belongings damaged. The student declined to comment.

Hannah MacLean, a freshman in the College of Science, was one of the other residents on the east wing of the fifth floor, just five or six doors down from room where the fire started.

“I didn’t really take it that seriously (at first),” MacLean said. “I kind of took my time. … Then I open my door, and I’m like, ‘Oh, I see smoke,’ and then I kinda panicked.”

MacLean said most of the residents were out of the building by 2:45 a.m.

By the time the fire truck arrived, the fire had been contained, though there was still smoke present, according to Purdue Fire Chief Kevin Ply.

“(The fire) was completely accidental, and the sprinklers worked just as they were designed to work,” Ply said.

According to MacLean, there was water coming from the door across from the room where the fire started, but Ply explained that only the sprinkler in that room went off because of their design.

“(The sprinkler) reaches a predetermined temperature and then that sprinkler head pops, and so when that happens, water comes out of the sprinkler at roughly 30-35 gallons per minute,” Ply said.

When the fire department arrived, they had to turn off the sprinkler system, which is why there was so much flooding, Ply said.

Purdue spokesperson Tim Doty said via email because of the sprinkler system, some rooms will be offline for the rest of the semester and affected students have been offered temporary housing or new housing assignments within University Residences.

The residents were not allowed back into the building until around 4 a.m., according to MacLean. The fifth-floor residents were told they had to find a different place to stay for the night, but many other Hawkins residents offered to host them.

MacLean stayed with her friend, Maya Radjenovich, a freshman in the College of Health and Human Sciences.

“A lot of girls seemed to be really understanding and open to allowing people to spend the night with them,” Radjenovich said. “It was actually really sweet to see.”

The next night, fifth-floor residents still weren’t able to return to their rooms. Hawkins offered temporary housing to any residents who weren’t able to find a place to stay with another resident and escorted those who wanted to get any belongings from their rooms.

The fifth-floor residents weren’t allowed back into their rooms until Friday at 5 p.m., according to MacLean.

“As you can see, my books are all water-damaged,” she said, brandishing her wrinkled notebooks. “Luckily, my stuff didn’t get too damaged.”

MacLean said the maintenance workers worked hard to clean residents’ rugs, shoes and any other objects they could launder, but many girls’ belongings were too water-damaged to be reclaimed. When MacLean moved back in, there were still large fans running in an attempt to dry everything off.

“For the girls whose stuff that was damaged that needs to be replaced, I know they’re filing a report,” Mac Lean said.

Wednesday morning, residents received an email saying that Hawkins would not be reimbursing residents for any damages sustained due to the flooding.

“We are unable to assist with your request of reimbursement for damages to student owned clothing and furnishings,” the email read. They suggested reaching out to insurance companies and apologized for the unfortunate circumstances.

Residence Hall/Dormitory, Residential

Boone, NC – Fire sprinkler in dorm room keeps fire from spreading

A small fire from a cooking accident occurred at the Appalachian Heights on Bodenheimer Drive on Jan. 26 at 4:41 p.m.

Boone Fire Department Battalion Chief Kent Brown said the sprinkler system in the room where the fire occurred activated and kept the fire from spreading.

Housekeeping is on scene cleaning up the water from the sprinkler systems on the first and second floors.

Residents on the right side of the building are not allowed inside until further notice, while residents on the left side of the building have been permitted back in.

Marielle Tooley, a resident on the second floor said the situation happened fast.

“We all went outside and the firemen took care of it pretty quickly and now we’re just waiting on the mess to be cleaned up,” Tooley said.

Residence Hall/Dormitory, Residential

New Haven, CT – Fire sprinklers extinguish fire in Yale dorm room started by lit candle; No injuries reported

A small fire broke out in a student dorm room in Pauli Murray College Monday afternoon, with subsequent water damage affecting the buttery, the college’s student meeting room, the dining hall loading dock and two student suites. No students, faculty or staff members were injured.

The fire — which began from a lit candle — broke out in Entryway E around 2:50 p.m. Alarms sounded throughout the college as the sprinkler system put out the fire before firefighters entered the building. The water in the suite, which was on the second floor, leaked down into the suite below it and then into the elevator shaft, causing damage in the basement.

Head of College Tina Lu sent out an email to Pauli Murray students approximately two hours later, explaining that nobody was hurt and informing students about the damage. She also emphasized the rule against candles in undergraduate dorm rooms.

“Candles are dangerous,” Lu told the News. “And the takeaway is that the undergraduate regulations, that particular one, is there for a very good reason. We all grew up with candles, but in this communal living environment, they’re dangerous, and they caused a lot of damage.”

Lu did not specifically elaborate on how the fire started, citing that she wanted to protect the privacy of the student. However, she did mention the danger of having a candle lit with the window open on a windy day, as wind can carry the fire.

She said that while she was not on campus when the fire broke out, she returned when the firemen arrived and later did a walkthrough of the college with the fire marshal to survey the damage. Excluding the student’s suite, all of the damage to the college is water-related, and the facilities staff have already begun repairing the college’s property.

“All [the repairs] are taking place right now, but in a building that is this complicated, it’s a bunch of different moving parts,” Lu said. “We are working hard to make sure that it’s as fast as possible.”

Casey Ramsey ’20, who lives in the suite below the room in which the fire started, told the News that he and his suitemate have been temporarily relocated to a different entryway due to water damage. None of their items were damaged, but there is a crack in their ceiling that was leaking water, he explained. Firefighters discovered an inch of water in the walls of the hallway outside their room, according to Ramsey.

Ramsey was in his room at the time of the fire but said he did not think that the alarm was serious. He only left when his friend texted him that the fire was directly above him, he said. After the fire was extinguished, firemen and the fire marshal examined his suite and decided that he should move as a precaution so that adequate repairs could be made.

“It’s not an ideal situation, but it’s not unpleasant,” Ramsey said. “At least we got to stay in Murray, and we got to keep our own rooms and have our own space still, and it’s not too far.”

Shira Minsk ’23 lives in the same hallway as Ramsey, but her suite did not suffer any water damage. However, there was a small leak in the hallway outside her room, which had stopped by Tuesday morning.

Minsk, like Ramsey, was in her room at the time of the fire. She recalls at least two other times this year that the fire alarm has gone off in her entryway, both of which turned out to be false alarms or fire drills. So, when she heard the alarm this time, she said she put in her headphones and continued to study. She added that she only left the building when one of her friends who lives down the hall informed her that there were firefighters coming. Once outside, she saw smoke coming out of a second-floor window and then saw water from the sprinklers.

“I totally think it could have happened to anyone … Lots of people I know in Murray light candles,” Minsk said.

Pauli Murray College is located at 130 Prospect Street.

Residence Hall/Dormitory, Residential

Decorah, IA – Fire sprinklers activate to control dorm room fire; No injuries reported

A fire inside a Luther College dorm in Decorah caused damages but injured no one Wednesday evening.

The Decorah fire department says they were called to Miller hall on Luther’s campus for the fire in the dorm room.

Authorities say they were directed to a room on the second floor of the building, when they got to the room in question there was no one inside, but there was a small burned area in the room.

Firefighters say the sprinkler system inside the hall had been activated and there was smoke found in the building. The sprinkler system was turned off by firefighters and the smoke was ventilated from the room and building.

What caused the fire is still under investigation by the Decorah fire department.