fire believed to have been electrical in nature damaged the Mission: Escape suite in The Factory building on Saturday, the Chesterton Fire Department is reporting. Capt. Rudy Jimenez told the Chesterton Tribune today that, at 7:20 a.m., the CFD was initially dispatched to the Frontline Foundations Inc. offices in response to an activated alarm. Chesterton Police officers, first on the scene, quickly determined that there was no fire at Frontline, then proceeded to The Factory, where they made entry and subsequently traced smoke and an odor of natural gas to Suite 3 on the second floor, where the Mission: Escape business is located.
On their arrival firefighters found that the sprinkler system had done “an excellent job in extinguishing the fire” and confining it to its point of origin, Jimenez said: a small hallway off the main lobby leading to one of the escape rooms. The source of the fire appears to have been a short circuit in a smoke machine or its extension cord, which on igniting began to burn a nearby stage prop from the bank heist escape room: a cardboard swag box containing fake money, Jimenez said.
Fire damage was minimal but water damage was fairly extensive–both to Suite 3 and to Suite 2, beneath it on the ground floor–inasmuch as the sprinkler system continued to release water until firefighters turned it off. Jimenez estimated damage to the building at $10,000 and that to contents at $5,000. He added that Suite 2 on the ground floor is currently vacant. The CFD cleared the scene at 8:37 a.m.
A fire broke out in the the Pauli Murray College dining hall kitchen at around 8:15 a.m. on Wednesday, forcing diners and staff to evacuate and the dining hall to close temporarily.
The fire alarm blared across Murray’s first-year courtyard from the dining hall to adjacent entryway A. While the source of the fire remains unknown, the incident was minor and the flames did not carry from the kitchen into the dining room, according to Christian Fischer, senior director of Yale Dining. He said that a dining hall staff member activated the sprinkler system as a precautionary measure, triggering a call to the fire department.
“Safety is our number one concern and our staff is trained to deal with these types of minor incidents,” Fischer said. “Small nonalarm issues happen from time to time in commercial kitchens, and this fire, minor in nature, did not activate the alarm.”
In 2017, there were 16 fire incidents recorded in the residential colleges, including one in Murray, according to the 2017 Yale University Annual Security and Fire Safety Report. According to a member of the Murray dining staff who asked for anonymity for fear of retribution from his boss, Wednesday morning’s incident was the first time a fire has broken out in the Murray kitchen. He speculated that the flames were fueled by grease that was sparked behind the serving counter in the kitchen. The staff member contended that the whole team worked together to “take care of it” and that he was thankful that everyone was okay.
Lillie Horton ’22, one of just a few dozen students eating breakfast when the fire broke out, said she admired that everyone managed to stay calm.
“A worker ran out and screamed, ‘There’s a fire behind the skillet!’” said Horton. “You couldn’t see anything — or at least I couldn’t — but they turned on the sprinklers and [everyone] walked out really calmly.”
Horton, along with classmates Danny Kaplowitz ’22 and Carla Sanchez-Noya ’22, explained that this was not the first time the fire alarm had gone off in their courtyard. On separate occasions the three have been urged to evacuate entryways A and B for non-emergency reasons.
As a result, Kaplowitz was not worried by the ringing, as he assumed it was another false alarm. Still, both he and Sanchez-Noya evacuated their entryway.
Eight students interviewed by the News said that the fire was purely a minor inconvenience. Every member of Murray received an email about an hour after the event, explaining that the dining hall would be closed for breakfast “due to unforeseen circumstances.” Lunch and dinner options were also limited, as the grille and pizza stations remained closed.
“I stayed up really late studying for a quiz expecting to be able to sleep in,” Kaplowitz said. “The fire alarm really messed up my morning.”
In any fire emergency on campus, the Office of the Fire Marshal requires that bystanders call 911.
Reporting on lives and property saved by fire sprinklers
