The residents on the east wing of the fifth floor saw the smoke.
A resident’s reverse osmosis water filter had caught fire. Its owner was not in the room at the time, and the sprinklers were able to contain the small fire. No residents were harmed, but the lasting flooding left many of their belongings damaged. The student declined to comment.
Hannah MacLean, a freshman in the College of Science, was one of the other residents on the east wing of the fifth floor, just five or six doors down from room where the fire started.
“I didn’t really take it that seriously (at first),” MacLean said. “I kind of took my time. … Then I open my door, and I’m like, ‘Oh, I see smoke,’ and then I kinda panicked.”
MacLean said most of the residents were out of the building by 2:45 a.m.
By the time the fire truck arrived, the fire had been contained, though there was still smoke present, according to Purdue Fire Chief Kevin Ply.
“(The fire) was completely accidental, and the sprinklers worked just as they were designed to work,” Ply said.
According to MacLean, there was water coming from the door across from the room where the fire started, but Ply explained that only the sprinkler in that room went off because of their design.
“(The sprinkler) reaches a predetermined temperature and then that sprinkler head pops, and so when that happens, water comes out of the sprinkler at roughly 30-35 gallons per minute,” Ply said.
When the fire department arrived, they had to turn off the sprinkler system, which is why there was so much flooding, Ply said.
Purdue spokesperson Tim Doty said via email because of the sprinkler system, some rooms will be offline for the rest of the semester and affected students have been offered temporary housing or new housing assignments within University Residences.
The residents were not allowed back into the building until around 4 a.m., according to MacLean. The fifth-floor residents were told they had to find a different place to stay for the night, but many other Hawkins residents offered to host them.
MacLean stayed with her friend, Maya Radjenovich, a freshman in the College of Health and Human Sciences.
“A lot of girls seemed to be really understanding and open to allowing people to spend the night with them,” Radjenovich said. “It was actually really sweet to see.”
The next night, fifth-floor residents still weren’t able to return to their rooms. Hawkins offered temporary housing to any residents who weren’t able to find a place to stay with another resident and escorted those who wanted to get any belongings from their rooms.
The fifth-floor residents weren’t allowed back into their rooms until Friday at 5 p.m., according to MacLean.
“As you can see, my books are all water-damaged,” she said, brandishing her wrinkled notebooks. “Luckily, my stuff didn’t get too damaged.”
MacLean said the maintenance workers worked hard to clean residents’ rugs, shoes and any other objects they could launder, but many girls’ belongings were too water-damaged to be reclaimed. When MacLean moved back in, there were still large fans running in an attempt to dry everything off.
“For the girls whose stuff that was damaged that needs to be replaced, I know they’re filing a report,” Mac Lean said.
Wednesday morning, residents received an email saying that Hawkins would not be reimbursing residents for any damages sustained due to the flooding.
“We are unable to assist with your request of reimbursement for damages to student owned clothing and furnishings,” the email read. They suggested reaching out to insurance companies and apologized for the unfortunate circumstances.
