Category Archives: School / University

NOTE – Residence Hall, Dormitory, and Fraternity-Sorority is included under Residential Category

College/University (on campus), Residential, Residential High Rise

Ithaca, NY – Fire on 10th floor of on-campus residential high rise contained by sprinkler system

Firefighters from the Ithaca Fire Department were called to Ithaca College campus for a fire in a dorm room on the 10th floor of the East Tower high-rise. Fire officials credit a working sprinkler and fire alarm system for keeping the fire from spreading from the one dorm room.

Ithaca College Safety Personnel reported heavy smoke in the hallway and a sprinkler activation on the 10th floor at about 9 a.m., according to the Ithaca Fire Department. Students evacuated the building to the Towers parking lot.

Ithaca firefighters arrived and entered the building to search for anyone still inside, while others stretched hose lines to the fire. The fire was quickly knocked down.

No one was injured in the blaze and students were moved into the Towers dinning hall due temperatures in the teens, the fire department said. The fire caused significant damage to the the dorm room, but the fire was contained and did not spread to any other rooms, the department said.

The cause of the fire is under investigation at this time.

“Early notification and quick responses keep these potentially serious events, from turning tragic,” the fire department said on its Facebook page.

College/University (on campus), School / University

St. Paul, MN – Sprinkler system halts arson fire at St. Catherine University; No injuries reported

Police arrested a 19-year-old former St. Catherine University student on Wednesday after eight small fires were set in seven buildings on the St. Paul campus.

No injuries were reported, and the St. Paul fire and police departments are investigating. Police had no immediate information about what the motive might have been.

All but one of the fires were in trash cans, mostly in women’s restrooms, said Assistant Fire Chief Mike Gaede. The largest fire was a chair that had been set ablaze in a lounge area, which activated a sprinkler system.

“That, by far, did the most damage to the building and the area,” Gaede said. The university said in a statement that the extent of the damage is being determined, but indicated it was not major.

The incident began when someone alerted St. Kate’s Public Safety to a fire in a basement bathroom in Derham Hall, an administrative building, which was followed by additional reports of fires, according to the university statement.

After a third fire was reported, “a pattern was noted, arson was suspected and university officials along with the St. Paul Police and Fire Departments were immediately alerted,” the statement said.

Officers responded to the campus at 11:40 a.m., along with firefighters, on a report of suspicious fires, according to police.

In addition to Derham Hall, the fires were found and quickly contained in Our Lady of Victory Chapel; Fontbonne and Mendel halls, which are classroom buildings; Butler Center, the fitness facility; St. Mary Hall, a dorm; and Coeur de Catherine, the student center, according to Sara Berhow, St. Kate’s spokeswoman. Two of the fires were set in Coeur de Catherine.

Campus public safety officers worked with the police and fire departments to review security footage and identified a suspect entering various buildings. At about 1:30 p.m., the suspect was found in a lounge in Crandall Hall, a dorm.

The woman, identified in a police report as Tnuza Jamal Hassan, was removed from campus at 2:35 p.m. and police arrested her on suspicion of first-degree arson.

Hassan, of Minneapolis, was a St. Kate’s student during the fall semester, but was not enrolled for January term or the spring semester, according to Berhow.

“While this was an unfortunate and stressful event, I am thankful we are all safe and for the wonderful and fast response of our Public Safety team along with the local police and fire departments,” said St. Kate’s President Becky Roloff. “Their thorough and quick actions helped ensure we were kept informed and the situation was resolved as quickly as possible.”

St. Kate’s is in session for students taking four-week January-term classes. The university notified their community on Wednesday about the incident via email, their emergency alert system and social media, with messages going out every 15 minutes until police gave the all-clear, Berhow said.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Puyallup, WA – Sprinkler system protects high school after banner set on fire

Two Emerald Ridge High School sophomores are in the custody of Pierce County sheriff’s deputies after lighting a banner on fire in the school’s common area, officials say.

The fire forced the evacuation of a wrestling match and caused sprinklers to douse the school’s common area with water.

A large banner was lit on fire and the smoke triggered the sprinkler system, Central Pierce Fire & Rescue spokesman Brian Levings said. A wrestling match was evacuated, Puyallup School District spokesman Brian Fox said.

Water from the sprinkler system was the primary concern, Levings said.

School will go on as scheduled, Fox said.

The extent of the damage from the fire and the water used to extinguish it is unknown.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Vineland, NJ – Sprinkler system limits spread of school arson fire; No injuries reported

Police arrested two students on Friday and charged them with arson after an investigation into a fire earlier this month at Veterans Memorial Intermediate School.  Two 14-year-olds were allegedly involved in an incident where a fire started in a boys’ bathroom, police said.  On Jan. 2, school officials evacuated the South Main Road school, sending the student body out into frigid conditions, when an alarm sounded.  A small fire in the boys’ bathroom activated the sprinkler system.  Once fire officials were on the scene, students returned to the building and were held in the auditorium and cafeteria while firefighters ventilated the ground-floor corridor and cleaned up the standing water.   Damage at the school was deemed minimal and confined to the bathroom, school officials said.  Both teens were processed and released to their parents pending further court action. They were also suspended from school, district officials said.

 

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Anchorage, AK – Suspicious fire at elementary school contained with help from sprinkler system

A “suspicious” fire early Sunday morning caused more than $100,000 in damage at College Gate Elementary School, according to the Anchorage Fire Department.

A witness called to report the fire in the East Anchorage school at about 12:30 a.m, AFD said in a release. When firefighters arrived, they found heavy smoke coming from a classroom at the corner of the building. The fire triggered a sprinkler system in the classroom. Thirteen fire vehicles responded and brought it under control by 12:52 a.m., AFD said.

Several classrooms were damaged by water, flames and smoke, according to school officials. The classroom where the fire began belonged to Heather Helgeson, who has 28 fourth-grade students returning to school in a week. She went to see her room on Sunday morning and made a video.

Her classroom window had been broken. “A flare got put in my room and it caught fire,” she said.

“The District will continue the clean up until school resumes,” Esary said.

Insurance will likely cover the cost of replacing the damaged electronics, she said.

A neighbor witnessed the vandalism and it was caught on camera, said Rob Holland, the District’s director of operations.

“At least one person is visible on the video. We can’t determine who that is. The police may or may not be able to,” he said.

A cleaning crew, four of them custodians, were summoned from their beds early Sunday and showed up within an hour of the fire, he said. Everyone is focused on minimizing the disruption for the children.

“The staff that deployed at 1 and 2 in the morning were heroic people,” he said. “We aren’t going to be held down by acts of violence. We’re going to turn this around and make it seamless.”

Other - School / University, School / University

San Antonio, TX – Fire at school bus garage put out with help from sprinkler system

An early morning fire damaged a Northeast ISD bus barn on Monday.  The fire broke out around 4:30 a.m. and at one point, 25 fire units were called out to the location at the NEISD North Transportation Terminal.  Fire crews say the fire started in a desk drawer within a building at the terminal. The fire was put out quickly with the help of the building’s sprinkler system. No one was injured in the fire.  Fire officials say the fire did about $5,000 worth of damage.  None of the buses were damaged in the fire and routes were expected to proceed as normal Monday morning.

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

Durham, NC – Dorm room fire at Duke University extinguished by sprinkler system; No injuries reported

A dorm room was damaged in a fire at Duke University on Saturday evening, officials said. The fire was reported at 7:48 p.m. at 420 Chapel Drive, according to Durham fire officials. “Firefighters found the sprinkler system had activated and extinguished a small fire in a dorm room,” Chris Iannuzzi, deputy chief of the Durham Fire Department said in a news release. Iannuzzi said the fire broke out in House HH at Few Quad on the Duke campus. The student who lived in the dorm room needed to be moved to a different room, Iannuzzi said. All students were later allowed back into the dormitory. No one was injured. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, officials said. “But it is not believed to be intentional,” the news release said.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Sterling, VA – Sprinkler system keeps overnight classroom fire at high school from spreading

A fire occurred overnight Sunday at Dominion High School and automatic sprinklers helped prevent it from escalating, according to Loudoun County Fire and Rescue.  Officials said the fire started at approximately 11:15 p.m. in a science classroom on the main floor of the school, with three activated automatic sprinklers keeping it in check before fire crews arrived to put out the remaining blaze with a portable extinguisher.  According to authorities, the fire caused minimal damage.  Despite the fire, Dominion remained open Monday for the start of the school week.  The Loudoun County Fire Marshal’s Office has ruled that the fire, which originated in the science classroom, was accidental.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

West Fargo, ND (No Media Coverage) – Early morning fire at kindergarten center extinguished by sprinkler system

*** NO MEDIA COVERAGE — READER REPORTED ***

A blog reader reported this sprinkler save from the Lodoen Kindergarten Center. The following message was sent from the school:

“At approximately 6:00 AM this morning, the West Fargo Fire Department responded to a fire alarm at our school. The alarm went off due to a small fire on the stove in the staff lounge. The fire was extinguished by the sprinkler system by the time the Fire Department arrived, but they did check our facility to ensure there were no further issues and that we could have school as normal. None of our classrooms were impacted, and students had a normal day today.”

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

San Antonio, TX – Fire in university apartment building under construction put out by sprinkler system

A sprinkler system put out a small fire in an apartment building under construction at the Our Lady of the Lake University campus Sunday morning. The San Antonio Fire Department said the fire started around 11:30 a.m., and firefighters arrived to a smoke-filled room. An SAFD spokesperson said, while the building was under construction, the sprinkler system was functioning. The cause of the fire is under investigation, and SAFD said it’s not clear yet how much damage was caused.