Category Archives: College/University (on campus)

College/University (on campus), School / University

Dallas, TX – Fire at university high-rise building suppressed by sprinkler system

A firefighter was overcome by heat after crews put out a possible electrical fire Friday night at a high-rise in Stemmons Corridor.

The firefighter was taken to a hospital for observation and is expected to be OK after working the fire at West Coast University, 8435 North Stemmons Freeway, about 8 p.m., Dallas Fire-Rescue spokesman Jason Evans said. The college offers degrees in the healthcare field. 

The first crews saw smoke on the sixth floor and found the fire in a break room. The cause hasn’t officially been determined, but it appears to have started near a microwave and be electrical in nature, according to fire investigators.

The fire triggered the automatic sprinkler system, which contained it to a small area, Evans said. Fire crews finished putting it out upon arrival.

There was minimal fire damage. Additional crews ventilated the building because smoke could be smelled throughout.  The fire itself didn’t cause any injuries.

College/University (on campus), School / University

West Lafayette, IN – Fire in computer lab at Purdue University extinguished with help from sprinkler system

A fire occurred at Purdue University’s Hampton Civil Engineering building this morning. The entire building was evacuated after smoke alarms detected the fire at roughly 11:30 a.m. Aaron Bukowski is a Junior in the College of Department of Physics and Astronomy.  He was in the building when the fire began.

“We were working in our lab and we smelled something burning and the fire alarms ended up going off,” said Bukowski. “They evacuated the whole building and by the time we got out was maybe two minutes before the fire department showed up. Then we saw them go in then they came back out, put their gear on, and went back in. Now their squeegeeing water off the floor.”

By roughly 12:15 p.m. three marked police vehicles were present on the scene, as well as three possible unmarked vehicles. Other safety vehicles present included one fire engine, one ambulance, one fire command, as well as at least seven Purdue University vehicles.

Kevin M. Ply is a fire chief for the Purdue University Fire Department. He was among those that responded to the call. “The fire department was dispatched here on an active fire alarm for Hampton at 11:14 a.m,” said Ply. “One of our ambulances was out on campus. They arrived at 11:15 a.m. so a minute later. When they arrived the building was being evacuated.” Ply said, “the fire alarm panel indicated an active sprinkler head in room 1268. When they proceeded to that area they encountered smoke and water coming from out of the door.”

After informing the rest of the first responders, they forced entry to the room, put out the fire, and confirmed that it had not spread to the rest of the building. There was “minimal damage” according to Ply.  Room 1268 is a computer lab in Hampton. Ply said the fire only affected a limited portion of the room. He confirmed there were no occupants in the room at the time and the room was secured.

“The fire was extinguished pretty quickly, we got to sprinklers shut down pretty quickly,” said Ply. “We’re working with the police department to determine the cause. Right now, it doesn’t appear to be anything suspicious but we’re going to try to determine exactly what the cause was.”

The old section of Hampton has been reopened, as well as parts of the new section where the fire occurred. The room is expected to reopen after the police department concludes its investigation.

“The key thing is we had a quick response, the sprinkler system did its job and contained the fire from spreading,” said Ply. “So everything worked the way it should.”

College/University (on campus), School / University

Billings, MT – Fire in storage room of university gymnasium extinguished by sprinkler system

Billing firefighters responded to a fire in a storage room at Montana State University Billings’ Alterowitz Gym, 1500 University Drive, on Thursday evening.  The fire was contained to physical education equipment and the storage room sustained smoke damage, said Deputy Fire Marshal Trever Schilling. The fire was reported at about 6:13 p.m. Electrical wiring failed, igniting nearby combustibles.

A sprinkler system extinguished the fire and minimized damages to the building and contents. The fire was accidental and damages are estimated at $1,000. The property is insured.

 

College/University (on campus), School / University

New Paltz, NY – Firefighters credit sprinkler system for containing fire in university’s fine arts building

A fire Thursday night damaged a studio in the Fine Arts Building at SUNY New Paltz, and the building will be closed until Monday, according to the college. The Graphic Design Thesis Show, from 4-7 p.m. Friday in the building’s rotunda, was scheduled to go on as planned, however, according to a message sent to students, staff and faculty.

The fire began in the building’s wood and sculpture studio, on the first floor, according to a statement from the college. There were no injuries. Firefighters responding to an automatic alarm and reports of smoke in the building discovered “heavy smoke and heat” in the first-floor hallway, the New Paltz Fire Department said Friday on its Facebook page.

They then found the blaze and extinguished it, the department said. The fire department credited “a well maintained sprinkler system” with containing the blaze to the room in which it began. The building’s fire alarm system was back in service Friday, according to the college.

 An email sent to the college community Friday afternoon said the Fine Arts Building’s studios were closed to students but were expected to reopen Monday morning. No one will be allowed to work in the building until Monday as personnel repair water damage, the email stated.  Information about how the fire might have started and what time it was reported was not immediately available

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

Boone, NC – Sprinklers activated when bulletin board in residence hall set on fire

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.

College/University (on campus), School / University

Newark, DE – Fire in University of Delaware science laboratory controlled with help from sprinkler system

University of Delaware Police responded to a fire alarm after 5 a.m. this morning and found flames. The fire department responded and the scene was secured. The sprinkler system activated, so there is water in the building as well as some smoke damage.

The second floor of Du Pont Hall’s west wing remains closed this morning, Wednesday, April 6, while clean up is under way after a minor fire in a materials science laboratory. The east wing of Du Pont Hall is now open, as are the first and third floors of the west wing. The second floor of the west wing remains closed.

Facilities staff are on scene assisting with the clean up. 

No one was injured in the incident.  

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

Columbia, MO – Residence hall fire extinguished by sprinkler system; Potential disaster mitigated

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

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

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

Kent, OH – Residence hall fire at Kent State University extinguished by sprinkler system

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.

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

Champaign, IL – Early morning fire at University of Illinois residence hall extinguished by sprinkler system

Fire officials are investigating what caused a trash can fire in a University of Illinois dormitory early Thursday morning. At 2:13 a.m., the Urbana and Champaign fire departments responded to a report of a fire at Scott Hall, 202 East Peabody Drive, in Champaign.

When they arrived, the firefighters did not see anything from the outside, but on the second floor, they found smoke in the southwest hallway, said Urbana Fire Chief Brian Nightlinger. A fire had started in a trash can in a common area garbage closet, said Craig Grant, associate director of campus code compliance & fire safety.

A sprinkler in that closet extinguished the fire. Firefighters were able to turn the sprinkler off before it caused significant damage, Nightlinger said. “The sprinkler system did its job,” Nightlinger said.

The residence hall was evacuated until around 3 a.m. Students took shelter in Snyder Hall and the Student Dining and Residential Programs building, Grant said. Cleanup lasted into the early morning.  Anyone with information on what may have caused the fire can contact the Champaign Fire Department at 217-403- 7200.