Sunday morning at 6:00 a.m., members living in the Delta Tau Delta house [on the Washington State University campus] were woken up by a fire alarm. Someone had left the stove on after cooking an early morning snack.
Pullman Fire Department officials said the stove had a significant amount of built up grease that hadn’t been cleaned. “That provided a good fuel source for the fire and so once it got hot enough and ignited then away it went,” said Rick Dragoo, Fire Prevention Officer.
The grease flames activated the stove’s hood extinguisher and a nearby sprinkler. “That kept it from moving into the exhaust system and out and possibly maybe even up the side of the house,” said Dragoo.
