Category Archives: College/University (on campus)

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

Charlotte, NC – Arson fire in university residence hall limited by sprinkler system

A UNCC student has been arrested for starting a fire inside a residence hall on Wednesday afternoon.  UNCC Police say Kaci Stackhouse, 19, was arrested Friday and charged with first degree arson. She was transported to the Mecklenburg County Jail.  The fire was started in a suite in the Oak Residence Hall and caused only minor damage, thanks to the buildings sprinkler system, according to UNCC officials.

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

New Brunswick, NJ – Sprinkler system successfully activates in Rutgers University residential high-rise fire; No injuries reported

Hundreds of residents were evacuated from The Yard @ College Ave this afternoon after a grease fire on the 12th floor set off the alarms and sprinkler systems — but according to students on the scene, there was a notable gap between the evacuations of the top and the bottom floors. “The sprinkler system activated, causing water to reach lower floors down to the lobby,” said University spokesperson Neal Buccino. “Residence Life representatives have been on (the) scene since the incident began.”

No injuries were reported, but according to Buccino, approximately 26 students were displaced as a result of flooding in their apartments. He said Residence Life has connected those students with temporary housing that will be available until they can return to their apartments. Laura Dengrove, a School of Arts and Sciences senior, said that some individuals were asked to provide a record of the possessions in their apartments as a provision in case of flooding-related damage.

“We didn’t really see anything because we’re on the fourth floor. Apparently there were flashing lights near the elevators but we didn’t get any alarm at all, even though the people above us did,” Dengrove said. “There are some people who have been out here for an hour — we just got out five minutes ago. When you look at the whole picture that probably isn’t great.”

The Sojourner Truth Apartments opened earlier this year and aside from drills, this was the first time that an emergency has forced students to evacuate the building. There are a total of 442 students currently living in the complex. Michael Collins, a School of Engineering senior, lives just two floors below where the kitchen fire took place. Unlike residents on the fourth floor, he said he was alerted to the emergency by a series of alarms.

“The first thing that happened around 3 p.m. was we got an alarm that was automated, saying ‘an emergency has been reported’ and to the best of my knowledge it’s the same alarm that happens when there’s a fire drill,” Collins said. “I was cooking when it happened so I figured I’ll just be quiet and stay in my room — it’s a drill, it happens. Then about 15-20 minutes ago we got an actual alert from a person on an intercom saying ‘all residents evacuate’ it sounded legit so we all left.”

After talking to some of the other displaced students, Collins said he began to realize that everyone appeared to have been evacuated at different times, through different means. “I did hear my friend got an actual person on the intercom first and apparently that was a lot earlier than in my apartment. She’s on the seventh floor. To me it seems very disorganized and I’m very confused as to what would happen if a bigger emergency actually did happen,” Collins said.

College/University (on campus), School / University

Marquette, MI – Storage room fire in university science building extinguished with help from sprinkler system

The Marquette Fire Department was on scene at Northern Michigan University for about 3.5 hours today after being dispatched to a report of a fire on the third floor of the West Science Building. On arrival, NMU Public Safety confirmed a small fire in a third-floor storage room. The Marquette Fire Department supplemented the building standpipe system that had one sprinkler head activated. The fire suppression team made entry to office and quickly extinguished container involved. A third alarm page was called for manpower, and efforts to minimize water damage in the building started. After the scene was stabilized, NMU Public Safety and Maintenance Staff could enter the building to continue the work. The cause is under investigation.

MARQUETTE — Due to a fire that started in a chemistry storage room, the NMU New Science Building was evacuated, and has been shut down until further notice.

Around 8:30 this morning, a fire alarm located near the chemistry storage room went off. Though the Marquette Fire Department responded promptly, NMU spokesperson Derek Hall says that the fire suppression system installed in the building put out the fire very quickly.

Hall estimated between 50-60 students, staff, and faculty in the building at the time of the fire. Thankfully, everyone was evacuated safely.

Currently, fire officials are still securing the building before they can turn it back over to begin cleanup.

The fire department believes that the fire started in a garbage can in the chemical storage room.

Hall says that they have not yet been able to assess the damages, but are hoping to have the building back open by tomorrow.

College/University (on campus), School / University

Fayetteville, AR – Fire in University of Arkansas fabrication lab kept from spreading by sprinkler system

A sprinkler system and a quick-acting shop steward helped prevent a fire reported at about 5:15 p.m. Tuesday from spreading beyond a student fabrication laboratory in the architecture building at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, university and fire officials said. No injuries were reported, said Willie Watts, a battalion chief with the Fayetteville Fire Department. He said department personnel arrived to find that something had been burning but never needed to deploy fire hoses. The room’s sprinkler system helped douse the blaze, he said, which was under control by 5:22 p.m..  Peter MacKeith, dean of UA’s Fay Jones School of Architecture, said at the scene that machines used by students were being shut down for the day when the problem started in a garden-level lab at Vol Walker Hall.  A shop steward grabbed an extinguisher to try and put out the fire, MacKeith said, adding that he did not know what might have caused the blaze.  The building was evacuated, but by 6 p.m. students were allowed to re-enter the building. MacKeith said he was unsure of any damage.

College/University (on campus), School / University

Iowa City, IA – Laboratory fire at University of Iowa contained by sprinkler system

A fire Sunday damaged a laboratory in the most heavily used research facility on the University of Iowa campus. Iowa City firefighters responded to a fire alarm at Bowen Science Building, 51 Newton Road, around 5:45 p.m. Sunday and found flames on the second floor, according to an Iowa City news release. Firefighters extinguished the fire in about 20 minutes.

Bowen’s sprinkler system contained the flames to the room where the fire started, but early estimates indicate damage to one-third of the first floor and one-third of the second floor of the 45-year-old building. An initial damage estimate indicates at least $500,000 in damage to the lab. This estimate does not include water damage.

“That water will just keep leaking down for a while,” said Iowa City Battalion Chief Eric Nurnberg.. “And as that water continues to migrate through the building, I’m sure they are going to have some other issues to deal with.”

“The research conducted in this area is predominantly medical, and non-hazardous in nature,” Hayley Bruce, a UI spokeswoman, said via email. “Some of the research has been temporarily interrupted, but at this time no data has been lost. No classes are expected to be impacted.”

University officials recently updated the Iowa Board of Regents about long-term plans for a $30 million renovation of the building. An $18.5 million project to modernize Bowen’s building systems is continuing through the 2017-18 academic year.

“Bowen Science is a building built in (1972) and funds are needed to completely modernize this building,” Rod Lehnertz said last week during a meeting of the regents’ Property and Facilities Committee. “It still remains — approaching 50 years of age — the most intensely utilized research facility on our campus. It is critical that the building be modernized and taken care of for the next generation.”

Nurnberg described the fire as “a great example of the importance of having a sprinkler system in the building.”

“Had there been no sprinkler system here, the damage would have crept into the millions easily,” he said.

College/University (on campus), School / University

Greencastle, IN – Fire in new dining hall building at DePauw University suppressed by sprinkler system

A small fire early Saturday morning at Hoover Hall on the DePauw University campus occurred in a storage room on the lower level of the new dining hall in the center of campus.  The fire was extinguished very quickly, DePauw officials said.  The fire began at about 5:45 a.m. while no one was in the building but the safety system did its job, DPU spokesman Ken Owen told the Banner Graphic.

Two sprinklers put out the bulk of the fire, he said, and a fire extinguisher was used once the Greencastle Fire Department arrived on the scene to fully put it out. No fire hoses were necessary in the incident.  No damage estimate was available Saturday morning, however, damage was deemed “minimal” by DePauw officials.

The fire created smoke and there was water left by the sprinklers, necessitating clean-up and the closing of the dining hall at least for Saturday breakfast. The sprinkler system must be recharged, Owen said.  Because of that clean-up work, along with the need for the fire marshal to do his work to determine the cause of the fire, breakfast was not being served at Hoover but instead breakfast items were available at the convenience store in the Union Building.

At 10 a.m., the Health Department gave DePauw clearance to reopen Hoover Hall. The plan at that time was to open Hoover Hall with a limited menu at noon Saturday.

“All of us — the DePauw administration and our friends from the fire department and public safety — thank you and all students for their patience and understanding as we proceed today,” Owen said in a statement for the university. “I can’t say enough about the good work many people have performed in the early hours of a Saturday to make the process of recovering from this incident as quick and seamless as possible.”

Hoover Hall is the DePauw’s new 48,600 square-foot dining hall which sits in the shadow of historic East College in the center of campus. It was formally dedicated last October.  The $32 million project took 29 months to complete after ground was broken on May 17, 2014. The lead gift came from R. David and Suzanne A. Hoover, both 1967 graduates of DePauw.

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

Glassboro, NJ – Fire in university residence hall put out by sprinkler system; No injuries reported

Residents of Mimosa Hall were forced to evacuate their dorms shortly before noon on Friday, after a fire started in a dorm on the first floor of the residential hall, according to a Rowan Alert sent to students across campus. Firemen from Washington, Harrison and Glassboro townships and other first responders quickly arrived at the scene to contain the fire while residents waited outside.

Students were notified at the time by a mass text sent out by the university. No one was harmed during the initial fire.  Rowan spokesman Joe Cardona said that when he left the scene, firefighters still hadn’t determined the cause of the blaze.

“When you look at the room, it’s like whatever the fire was down on the ground in the corner,” Cardona said. Cardona also said the sprinkler system activated and put out the fire, which caused water damage to the first floor of Mimosa hall and the six students in the dorm where the fire started will be temporarily relocated until rooms are cleaned.

Freshman history major and resident of Mimosa, Julianne Tarrant, said while she was not in the building at the time of the fire, she had heard that the fire may have been caused by a box fan in the window of the dorm. Madison Klunk, an undeclared freshman living in the building, said the evacuation order was a major hassle for her.

“My aunt’s here to pick me up, and I can’t get in the building to get any of my clothes,” Klunk said. “So I’m going to have to leave and come back later and get it, and that’s an issue.”

College/University (on campus), School / University

Hibbing, MN – Sprinkler system praised for containing fire at community college

An early morning fire left a 2014 Freightliner semi-truck totally damaged.

The fire broke out shortly before 5 a.m. Saturday at the Hibbing Community College. According to the Hibbing Fire Department, crews responded to a fire alarm at the College around 4:40 a.m.

Upon arrival, crews reported there was nothing visible from the exterior of the building but the fire alarm system was still activated.

A Hibbing police squad later radioed that there was smoke coming from a garage door on the North East corner of the building, just four minutes after the initial response.

The Hibbing Fire Department responded along with the Keewatin and Chisholm Fire Departments. Fire crews discovered a semi-truck on fire. The fire was contained to the truck and extinguished by the sprinkler system.

Damages are estimated at $48,000 for the truck and $5,000 for clean-up costs to the building. Authorities say if the building had not contained a properly serviced and maintained sprinkler system, the damages could have exceeded $1 million.

The building was unoccupied at the time of the fire. Maintenance staff say the fire is not expected to affect classes at the College on Monday.

College/University (on campus), School / University

West Lafayette, IN – Fire in Purdue University laboratory extinguished with help from sprinkler system

Purdue firefighters rushed to Wetherill Hall on Oval Drive about 1:30 p.m. Wednesday after receiving a report of a fire, which was extinguished within minutes after the fire department arrived.

Purdue fire Capt. Shane Jones said the fire caused moderate damage, which was contained to the fire hood area in the second-floor laboratory. The fire activated the sprinkler system, so there also was some water damage in the area.

The facility was evacuated when the alarm went off, and people were directed to the nearby Stewart Center and Purdue Memorial Union, Jones said.  Building services staff assisted in the clean up, and people were allowed back into the building about 2:15 p.m. However, the room where the fire  happened and the room directly below it remained closed, Jones said.

 

College/University (on campus), Other - Hospital/Medical, School / University

Palo Alto, CA – Lab fire at Stanford University Medical School held in check by sprinkler system

Palo Alto Fire crews knocked down a 3-alarm fire at Stanford University in Palo Alto after evacuating the surrounding area Saturday morning.  Crews first reported the fire on Twitter around 7:45 a.m. in the Edwards Building at 300 Pasteur Dr., which is connected to the hospital.

A hazmat team is still on site because the fire started in and burned a laboratory containing bio-hazardous waste, Palo Alto Fire said.  Also on site are 60 firefighters from Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties, 9 fire engines, five trucks, two medic ambulances, and five Command Chiefs. The main entrance to Stanford’s hospital is closed. Officials are redirecting those trying to enter the facility through other doors

A sprinkler system contained flames to a room on the third floor, according to Palo Alto Fire.  Around 8:00 a.m., the fire was upgraded from a 2-alarm to a 3-alarm.  Around 8:25 a.m., crews reported the fire was out. Since the fire was in the Medical School Building, officials say there was no threat to hospital patients. No injuries have been reported at this time.