College/University (on campus), Residence Hall/Dormitory, Residential Indiana, PA – Overnight dorm room fire put out by sprinkler system; Vape stick apparent cause April 29, 2018 viking210 No injuries were reported in a dorm room fire late Wednesday on the Indiana University of Pennsylvania campus. “The sprinkler system put it out, we didn’t have to,” Indiana Fire Association Assistant Chief Mike Empfield said this morning about the 11:22 p.m. call to Wallwork Hall, 455 Pratt Drive. According to an Indiana Fire Association Facebook post, IUP police were first on the scene and reported a haze of smoke, and that the sprinkler had activated. “(The) fire was started in the corner of a bed by what appears to be a vape stick,” according to the fire company’s post. “Damage was limited to smoke and heat by the bed and water damage from the sprinkler.” Empfield said water damage was reported down a hallway of the dormitory. “We shut the sprinkler system off and did a little ventilation,” the assistant fire chief said. IUP police evacuated the building. Indiana County’s hazardous materials Team 900 and Citizens’ Ambulance Service also were dispatched. Those called to the scene included IFA’s Ladder 106 unit whose seven-member interior firefighting crew includes five IUP students. All crews were back in their stations shortly after midnight.
