Residence Hall/Dormitory, Residential Tallahassee, FL – Fire at Florida State dormitory kept in check by sprinkler system November 14, 2016 viking210 A Wednesday evening trash compactor fire filled Florida State’s Salley Hall dormitory with smoke, forcing residents to evacuate. At 6:19 p.m., Tallahassee Fire Department crews were called to the residence hall located on West Call Street near Chieftan Way. An automatic sprinkler system kept the fire under control. When firefighters arrived, they cleared the smoke from the seventh and eighth floors. Residents have since returned to the dorm. No fire damage or injuries were reported. FSU’s website said Salley Hall has the capacity to house 570 students. It was built in 1962 and renovated in 2000. Named after longtime professor Nathaniel Moss Salley, it once housed the FSU football team and was the first on-campus dorm to become co-ed.
College/University (on campus), Residence Hall/Dormitory Santa Barbara, CA – Residence hall fire controlled with help from sprinkler system September 28, 2016 viking210 Around 200 Westmont students were displaced Monday when a fire broke out inside a storage closet at one of the college’s dorms, leaving a student with burns to his feet, according to school officials. Firefighters responded to Page Hall at 955 La Paz in Montecito early Monday evening to reports of the fire and found heavy smoke coming from the second floor of the three-story building. The Montecito Fire Department says a second-alarm response was then requested due to the number of people in the building that could be in harms way. The students were evacuated and the fire controlled, with the help of a fire sprinkler system, by 6:15 p.m. The injured student was taken to the hospital with minor injuries. School officials say power was out at the dorm and students were being set up with alternative housing for the night. Some reportedly stayed on cots in Murchison Gym and others stayed at the homes of faculty and staff. No student rooms were damaged by the fire. The cause of the fire is under investigation. Westmont’s fall semester began August 29.
Residence Hall/Dormitory, Residential Rock Hill, SC – Dorm room fire held in check by sprinkler system at Winthrop University June 17, 2016 viking210 Firefighters extinguished a small fire in a dorm room on the Winthrop University campus that forced the evacuation of 300 students Thursday morning, an official said. The fire was called in around 7 a.m. in Richardson Hall, Deputy Chief Mark Simmons of the Rock Hill Fire Department said. The building’s sprinkler held the fire, which was isolated to one dorm room, in check until firefighters arrived. No injuries were reported. Simmons said about 300 students were staying in the dorm for orientation and were evacuated. There was minor fire damage to the one dorm room, and water damage caused by the sprinkler system, Simmons said. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
College/University (on campus), Residence Hall/Dormitory, School / University Boone, NC – Sprinklers activated when bulletin board in residence hall set on fire April 29, 2016 viking210 An unknown perpetrator set fire to a bulletin board that covered the topic of privilege on the fourth floor of Lovill Hall which activated both the fire alarm and sprinkler system on April 24 around 10:41 p.m., Appalachian State campus police said. The board was an almost exact copy of the board that sparked controversy last year in East Hall. There is also a version of the board posted between McAlister’s and career exploration in Plemmons Student Union. According to a university email update, no injuries have been reported but 40 of the 219 students that live in the residence hall have been displaced due to water damage from the facility sprinkler systems. ASU police officer Lt. Richard Hicks said some students are being moved to empty beds on campus while others are being housed at the Fairfield Inn & Suites. Residence hall meetings were held Monday that included residence life staff, campus police officers and staff from the Counseling Center to provide support for students impacted by the event. Students were told that so far the arson has cost the university $20,000 total in damages, and has been projected to cost a total of $50,000, Rachel Bowman, a freshman resident of the fourth floor of the building who attended the meeting, said. “The board covered a wide range of privilege,” Bowman said. “It didn’t cover just one race or one gender, I felt it was very informative.” Beside the bulletin board, the RA had a notice posted that if anything on the board triggered them, they were encouraged to find the RA and talk to them about it. Bowman’s room was not severely damaged, however other rooms on the fourth floor and those below sustained heavy water damage. Taylor Ramsey, a freshman resident of the third floor, was moved from Lovill to Eggers on Monday due to water damage. Ramsey said she spent Sunday night and all day Monday packing and relocating with the help of university staff. Sgt. Fred Carrero confirmed that at both of the meetings held by the university on Monday, students were told about the anonymous reporting process. Students are encouraged to contact university police with any leads or information regarding the crime. Any tip that leads to an arrest will be eligible for an award up to $1,000, according to an email from campus police. Lt. Hicks said that several interviews were recently conducted in hopes of finding the accused arsonist. “They are feeling pretty good right now about coming to a conclusion soon for formal charges,” Hicks said.
Residence Hall/Dormitory, Residential Berkeley, CA – Fire in on-campus housing unit extinguished by sprinkler system; No injuries April 28, 2016 viking210 At approximately 6:50 p.m. Berkeley Fire Department responded to a small fire at the Berk, a residential housing unit for students on the south side of the UC Berkeley campus. The fire originated in a room on the third floor, activating a sprinkler response system that put out the fire, according to BFD Captain Kevin White, who said the cause of the fire had not been determined and that there were no reported injuries. As of 7:15 p.m. firefighters attempted to redirect water from the sprinklers into the stairwell to avoid water damage to rooms on the third floor. Within minutes of the alarm, four fire trucks and two police cars surrounded the building, sectioning off the first block of College Avenue. Fire alarms leading to sudden evacuations are a frequent occurrence at the Berk, according to residents. “It’s happened seven times this semester,” said Henry Guan, a UC Berkeley freshman who lives in the Berk. “This happens all the time, but this time, it was for real.”
Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residence Hall/Dormitory Springdale, PA – Early morning fire in senior high-rise apartment building limited by sprinkler system; No serious injuries reported April 9, 2016 viking210 Residents of an apartment building in Springdale was evacuated Thursday morning, when fire broke out on the sixth floor. Firefighters were called to Springdale Manor on Pittsburgh Street shortly before 6 a.m. Channel 11’s Jennifer Tomazic reports that a man was trapped inside the apartment where the fire started. He was rescued and did not suffer serious injuries. About 30 people were initially evacuated due to the fire. When the sprinkler system did not shut off, many apartments sustained water damage and all residents were evacuated. “The pressure in the sprinkler system was so great it was blowing the wedges back out of the sprinkler heads,” Springdale Assistant Fire Chief Dan Copeland said. “My cupboards on the first floor are full, my kitchen floor, the living room rug,” resident Joyce Bash said. Many of the evacuated residents were taken by bus to the borough building.
College/University (on campus), Residence Hall/Dormitory Columbia, MO – Residence hall fire extinguished by sprinkler system; Potential disaster mitigated March 8, 2016 viking210 A fire at a Stephens College residence hall on Saturday afternoon resulted in no injuries but caused severe water damage to several units. The Columbia Fire Department was dispatched to a fire alarm at Wood Hall, 5 S. College Ave. Firefighters at the scene found heavy smoke and water coming from a sprinkler on the fifth floor. The officer in charge upgraded the incident from an alarm to a commercial structure fire. A total of six units responded to the incident. An investigation revealed a fire in an apartment on the fifth floor activated the building’s sprinkler system. The sprinkler extinguished the fire, which didn’t spread to other units. The fire department is still investigating the cause of the fire. No damage estimates were available as of 5 p.m. Saturday.
College/University (on campus), Residence Hall/Dormitory, Residential New York, NY – Early morning residence hall fire at Columbia University contained by sprinkler system; No injuries March 5, 2016 viking210 A small fire broke out in a fifth-floor suite of Elliott Hall at 2:20 a.m. on Sunday, with water damage from the sprinkler response affecting rooms on the second through fifth floors of the building. After students were evacuated from the building following the sounding of the first alarm early Sunday morning, the Diana Center was opened for residents of Elliott Hall to wait in while the building was inspected by Public Safety, according to a resident assistant in Elliott Hall. The building was cleared for students to re-enter at around 3:30 a.m., but due to the sprinkler system’s response to the fire, the rooms immediately adjacent to the source, as well as the ones located several floors below it experienced flooding. A Barnard spokesperson confirmed that some administrative offices and hallway carpeting were affected by water damage. According to the RA, who wished to remain anonymous because RAs are prohibited by Residential Life to speak to the press, the flooding was caused by the sprinkler in the source room and not by multiple sprinklers. Residents living on the fifth floor near the room where the fire began said that aside from some smoke and ash in their rooms, they experienced no significant damage. The RA said that there was a second fire alert after the building was reopened, but that they thought that it had to do with the alert system and was not indicative of a second fire. It did, however, drive some students from the building for the night. Fifth-floor resident Maya Edwards, BC ’17, said that, although she did not leave for the night, she knew of students who left to stay with friends in other buildings. Although Barnard’s emergency alert notification system was not used for the fire, the RA said that they didn’t think that was a problem. “I feel like it was very contained so I feel like it wasn’t the same magnitude as in the 600s,” the RA said, referencing last year’s fire in 600 West 116th Street. Facilities is still working to address the problems caused by the flooding, but the building is fully operational, a Barnard spokesperson confirmed
Residence Hall/Dormitory, Residential Albany, NY – Early morning fire at University of Albany dorm controlled with help from sprinkler system February 24, 2016 viking210 An unattended candle is being blamed for a dorm fire at the University at Albany. The fire broke out on the third floor of Oneida Hall just before 1 a.m. on Tuesday. The dorm is located on the Indian Quad of the campus. The fire was contained to one room and was out within a half-hour. One student had minor injuries and was taken to Albany Medical Center for treatment. The fire also activated the fire sprinkler system in that room, which caused water damage. Some of the rooms around it and below it also suffered water damage due to the amount of water that was used. Around 120 students were evacuated for a time.
College/University (on campus), Residence Hall/Dormitory, Residential Kent, OH – Residence hall fire at Kent State University extinguished by sprinkler system February 15, 2016 viking210 Someone set fire to a billboard Friday in a Kent State University residence hall, according to a bulletin sent out by the university. The Kent Fire Department responded to a second-floor hallway in Centennial Court A around 1:40 p.m. A sprinkler system had extinguished the fire. Water caused minimal damage to the building and none to residents’ rooms, the alert said. Students were evacuated for a short time, but were permitted to return to their rooms after the fire was out.
