A small grease fire in Scanlon Hall at Missouri Western State University caused an evacuation of all Scanlon residents on Tuesday, Nov. 18. Jacob Teasley, second year resident assistant in Scanlon Hall, was involved with the event.
“There was a grease fire in the kitchen of the first floor guys’ wing,” Teasley said. “The students put water on it to put it out and it got worse.” Teasley believed there were two students directly involved in the fire. He said that no one was hurt.
Mallory Murray, director of public relations and marketing, sent an email to all Western employees regarding the fire. “There was no structural damage, however, students were disrupted between 2:30 and 4:30 p.m. and it may have impacted attendance in class for those that live in this hall,” Murray said in the email. According to Teasley, the sprinkler was going off in the kitchen where the fire occurred only, not in the rest of the hall.
University of Pittsburgh, Litchfield Tower A — The fire spread to a pillow and part of a chair, according to resident Jorge Garcia, but the sprinkler system put out the fire before it spread further.
“Fortunately, the sprinkler system was still working and put out the fire before any personnel arrived to extinguish it,” Pitt spokesman John Fedele said. There was no “substantial damage” to anything in Tower A, Fedele said, aside from the carpet, desk and chair in room 818.
Garcia, a freshman neuroscience major, was in the room when the laptop caught fire. “I heard a spark, and then it was just flames,” Garcia said.
The Maryland State Fire Marshall determined that carelessly discarded smoking materials caused a fire at Astor Senior Apartments, 3605 Moses Way, Waldorf at around 12:31 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 19.
According to Deputy Fire Marshal John Nelson, a sprinkler system in the apartment was activated and the fire was out by the time 40 volunteer firefighters from Waldorf, La Plata, Bryans Road, Hughesville, Accokeek, Baden and Bel Alton arrived on the scene.
Firefighters discovered smoke on the second floor of the apartment building with an activated fire alarm and sprinkler system. A single sprinkler head activated in Apartment 223, extinguishing the fire, which originated in the bedroom.
Reporting on lives and property saved by fire sprinklers