Category Archives: Residence Hall/Dormitory

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.

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.