Category Archives: Residence Hall/Dormitory

Residence Hall/Dormitory, Residential

Norman, OK – Fire sprinklers put out fire sparked by phone charger in dorm room; No injuries reported

Students living in Couch Tower at OU had a sleepless night after a fire started in a 10th floor dorm room. It was  from a phone charger plugged into an extension cord.

It happened around 2 a.m. Friday, and many residents thought it was a prank at first.

“I’m getting ready to go to bed, and all of a sudden the alarms start going off,” Charlie Reynolds said.

“Me and my roommate thought it was a joke at first, because the rest kind of had been,” Elizabeth Wright said.

“All of sudden I see videos on everyone’s stories like, ‘Ugh, not again,’ and me and my roommate look out the window and outside is just like a bunch of people,” Alexa Perez said.

That’s when students started to realize something was going on.

“They were knocking on the doors and everyone was like, ‘Get up, you need to evacuate,’ and I was like, ‘Oh, okay,'” Lauren Kennedy said.

The sprinkler system activated after the fire started, soaking some of the rooms. The tower was evacuated. No one was hurt.

“In this case, the fire that started was right next to the bed. There were actually elements of the bed, including the mattress and sheet and coverings, that caught fire, so in this case, the fire sprinkler activating and putting the fire out actually saved the student’s life,” OU Fire Marshal Justin Daniels said.

Students had to find other places to sleep. Some slept in their cars, the storm shelter or at friends’ places.

Professors were asked to provide appropriate accommodations on finals for students who’d been affected.

“I was planning on studying this morning, so I didn’t really get that chance,” Wright said.

“I have a very important final tonight, and I need to pass it, and I’m running on very, very little sleep because of this,” Reynolds said.

“I’m honestly really tired,” Julia Wu said. “I got like an hour-and-a-half of sleep,” Perez added.

The university is working with students to address damage to belongings.

Daniels says it’s a good idea to plug chargers directly into wall outlets rather than an extension cord.

Residence Hall/Dormitory, Residential

Cincinnati, OH – University dorm fire started by battery-operated skateboard kept in check by sprinkler system; No injuries reported

Meredith Barckert said she was watching TV with her boyfriend in his fifth-floor dorm room at Calhoun Hall when the fire alarms went off.

“I looked down the hallway and smoke filled up the entire hall,” Barckert, 18, told WCPO. “I said, ‘Let’s get out.’ Everyone ran down the stairs. It was super crowded … Everyone got out, so it wasn’t too intense.”

A malfunction in a battery-operated skateboard caused a fire in a fifth-floor room, forcing hundreds of students to be evacuated from the 12-story University of Cincinnati dorm Tuesday night, officials said.

A student in the room that caught fire and everyone else in the building escaped without injury, according to a release from District Fire Chief Louis Arnold.

“Fortunately the sprinkler system was keeping the fire in check and most of the damage was from the water,” Arnold said.

Damage was estimated at $20,000, he said.

Barckert said the fire occurred a few doors away from her boyfriend’s room. She said a bed caught fire, though officials did not confirm that.

Forty-four firefighters responded to the dorm after the call came in around 10:15 p.m., according to Arnold.

“I think out of every dorm this would be the scariest one to have a fire,” Barckert said, commenting on the number of floors.

Two students were displaced, Arnold said. An announcement on UC’s Public Safety Notifications page said “affected residents will be given alternative housing.”

Barckert and other students waited outside while fire and UC crews cleaned up inside.

“They told us all to go inside the CCM (College-Conservatory of Music) auditorium and stay in there, but some people are finding friends to stay with,” she said.

Residence Hall/Dormitory, Residential

Wichita Falls, TX – Single sprinkler extinguishes dishwasher fire at university student housing

Firefighters say the fire started in the dishwasher and extended to the cabinet and countertop.

There was a single sprinkler head in the kitchen area that activated so there was a considerable amount of water in the apartment. 3″ of standing water was throughout the apartment before WFFD crews removed it.

The water affected the electrical service in the downstairs apartment and caused multiple breakers to trip.

The damage to the building is estimated at $10,000. The damage to the building contents is estimated at $5,000.

Maintenance was called to the scene to help with utility control and staff arrived on scene to help relocate students.

College/University (on campus), Residence Hall/Dormitory, Residential

New Haven, CT – Overnight fire in university residence hall contained with help from sprinkler system

Two people suffered smoke inhalation after crews responded to a fire at a Southern Connecticut State University residence hall in New Haven early Tuesday morning. The New Haven Fire Department tweeted that at around 2 a.m., fire crews responded to the West Campus Residence Complex at 160 Wintergreen Avenue after a sprinkler head was activated.

Fire officials say that the fire broke out on the second floor and they believe that it started in a trash can. Two people were treated for smoke inhalation but both refused to go to the hospital.

Firefighters were able to contain the fire to one room but students were evacuated from the building. Most of the students have since been allowed back into the dorm. Officials say that the sprinklers going off helped to put out the flames so smoke was more of an issue as it filled up the second floor. The incident remains under investigation.

College/University (on campus), Residence Hall/Dormitory, Residential

New York, NY – Overnight fire in college residence hall extinguished by sprinkler system; Fire started in trash compactor room

At around 12:30 am last Monday night, or early Tuesday morning, a fire broke out at The Towers at CCNY, forcing all of its residents to evacuate. This event marks the second major incident this year involving the activation of the sprinkler system.

The blaring alarm woke many of the residents, who rushed to evacuate the building. Among them was Resident Assistant William Dadario. After waking up and seeing his fellow RAs post photos of flooding from the sprinklers in their group chat, he knew it was not just a drill.

He said in a brief interview, “Usually, if you get the alarm you don’t always get the [sprinkler] suppression system, just because the suppression system is only triggered when flames actually are licking the sprinkler heads themselves. So I knew it was probably something serious.”

Dadario and other residents reported seeing and smelling smoke coming from the trash chutes on the first floor. The fire appears to have originated in the compactor room, though the cause is still officially unknown.

The sprinkler system was able to extinguish the fire before it could spread, though some areas, including student’s rooms, near the area flooded in the process. Luckily, the sprinklers in the trash rooms are independent of the rest of the system for this very purpose. This specialization meant there was significantly less damage than the incident in October, where sprinkler systems were triggered in several rooms.

Meanwhile, the crowd of residents outside was growing cold and restless. In the rush to evacuate, many were unable to put on clothes appropriate for the freezing weather. Some had nothing more than light pajamas. Others were in flip-flops, lacking socks to protect themselves against the cold.

Public Safety directed everyone to take refuge in the cafés of the research buildings, anticipating a long wait for the fire department and RAs to handle the situation inside. After some time, those residents were falsely told that the doors were open and they could return to their rooms. The crowd then gathered just outside the doors until they were allowed in, nearly an hour after the evacuation began.

Inside the building, the elevators were out of order and residents took the stairs to their rooms in the 10-story dormitory. Eventually, the majority of residents were back in their rooms, and the RA team was helping those who were locked out. The bulk of the crisis was over for the night, while worries linger for those impacted by the flooding.

Residence Hall/Dormitory, Residential

Jefferson City, MO – Dormitory stove fire contained to one room by sprinkler system; No injuries reported

No injuries were reported after a stove fire forced the evacuation of a dormitory at Lincoln University in Jefferson City.

The Jefferson County Fire Department says the fire at Scruggs Hall was reported Wednesday evening.

The university’s police evacuated the building because of heavy smoke on the second floor of the dormitory.

The Jefferson City News-Tribune reports firefighters discovered the building’s sprinkler system controlled the fire, which apparently started on a stove in one room.

Fire damage was contained to the room with the stove.

Residence Hall/Dormitory, Residential, Residential High Rise

Newark, DE – No injuries in fire at high-rise student housing complex; Sprinkler system contained fire

No one was injured in an early morning fire at a high rise student housing complex behind the Newark Shopping Center, the Aetna Hose, Hook and Ladder Co. reported. At 2:36 a.m., Aetna Hose, Hook & Ladder Company along with mutual aid from Christiana Fire, Cranston Heights Fire Company,Mill Creek Fire Company – Stations 2&21, andMinquas Firewere dispatched to 1 Easton Court.

Crews arrived to the six-story wood-framed 220 unit high rise structure to find a fire on the 4th floor with the sprinkler system containing the blaze. Firefighters credited the sprinkler system for minimizing what could have been a serious situation. Thirty six units sustained water damage and building management assisted displaced students, who are now in other housing including hotels. No one was injured. Newark Delaware Police Department and the Newark Fire Marshal’s Office also responded to the incident.

College/University (on campus), Residence Hall/Dormitory, Residential

Palo Alto, CA – Sprinkler system activated in fire at Stanford residential building

Note: On January 19, 2000, a fire in a dormitory at Seton Hall University tragically took the lives of three students and injured many more. The residence hall did not have a sprinkler system.

At around 7:00 p.m. on Sunday night, some residents of Studio 1 at the Escondido Village residential complex were evacuated after a cooking fire contained to one apartment set off a sprinkler. A Studio 1 resident said that she and a group of other residents were not permitted to re-enter their complex for one hour and 20 minutes, and stayed at the nearby Community Graduate Center instead. At approximately 8:20 p.m., the alarms stopped ringing and students and visitors began to re-enter the complex, the resident said. The Palo Alto Fire Department had no additional information to offer as of Monday evening.

College/University (on campus), Residence Hall/Dormitory, Residential

Normal, AL – Sprinkler system activates in overnight fire at university housing complex; No injuries reported

Note: On January 19, 2000, a fire in a dormitory at Seton Hall University tragically took the lives of three students and injured many more.  The residence hall did not have a sprinkler system.

The Foster Complex at Alabama A&M University has been reopened after a fire that started in a single room at 11:50 p.m. Monday. According to the university’s director of housing, Karla Miller, the fire activated sprinklers.

Jerome Saintjones with the university says the fire was caused by an electrical outlet, and the major factor impacting the need to temporarily reassign rooms was the triggering of the sprinkler system. He says the first and second floors of the women’s side of the structure were especially affected by this. University officials say they are using an incremental move-in approach, and the students who were reassigned after the fire have been notified of the move-in schedule. Students have been scheduled to return to the building by Friday, February 22, or have been reassigned to other residence halls. Male students have been allowed to return to the Foster Complex, and times were scheduled for all female students to pick up personal items. Female students who live on the first and second floors have been advised by the university to pack enough items for the rest of the week, during which they will remain displaced. Female students on the third, fourth and fifth floors will be able to return to the building on Wednesday. Officials say the university has and will continue to provide toiletries, blankets and hygiene items to the students that were displaced, and these are available at the 500-bed, five-story Foster Complex.

Residence Hall/Dormitory, Residential

Berkeley, CA – Dryer fire in UC Berkeley residence hall prompted sprinkler system to activate

UC Berkeley students evacuated the Foothill residence hall Sunday after a clothes dryer caught fire in Building 1, according to Berkeley Fire Department spokesperson Keith May.

BFD responded to the fire about noon. According to May, smoke from the fire filled the laundry room and triggered smoke detectors, activating a sprinkler. When firefighters arrived on scene, they put out the fire “very quickly,” May said in an email.

May added that students evacuated appropriately. The dryer was removed and has since been turned over to the UC Fire Marshal.

This incident was not the first of its kind at a UC Berkeley facility. In 2017, a dryer fire in Maximino Martinez Commons prompted a full evacuation. Several years earlier, a dryer in the basement of Haas Pavilion also caughtfire.