by David Kennedy
At 11:48 a.m. on Tuesday, Security received two telephone calls reporting, “flames in a second floor window” and “curtains on fire” in Younker. The fire that broke out on the second floor of Younker Hall South resulted in no serious injuries, but it did damage college and student property.
As the fire alarm rang and students gathered outside, Security personnel ascended the stairs to the second floor.
The fire started in the room of Brigham Hoegh ‘08 and Laura Burton ‘08. Upon opening the door, Director of Security Steve Briscoe and another security officer suffered from smoke inhalation, and there was almost no visibility in the room. “When I saw the room it was just black,” said Briscoe. “I couldn’t see in there, and there was just too much smoke.”
At this point, Security officers didn’t know if students were trapped in the blaze. “It was very tense because the room seemed to be fully engulfed in smoke, and nobody could see anybody and nobody could get in there because of the smoke” said Briscoe.
Shortly thereafter, the Grinnell Police and Fire Departments arrived with three fire engines, two police cars, and an ambulance.
Younker’s sprinkler system was deactivated, and Grinnell Fire Chief Dan Sicard entered the room wearing an oxygen mask and confirmed that no one was inside the room. He then broke open the window to ventilate the room while firefighters carried their hose into the building and extinguished the fire, which had been contained by the sprinkler system.
The Grinnell Fire Department confirmed Thursday morning that the flame of a burning candle left near the window reached the curtains and started the fire.
Hoegh said that she and Burton left the room at 11:28 a.m. to go to lunch and that the candle was on a plastic storage unit that did not reach the window ledge or the curtains. It is unclear to Hoegh how the candle caused the fire that melted the storage unit and the adjacent plastic trash can and lit the window curtains ablaze.
After the firefighters left the building, Hoegh and Burton were allowed to enter their room. “Everything was covered in black soot,” said Hoegh. Burton and Hoegh retrieved their clothes and other belongings and took their laptop computers to ITS for damage assessment.
The majority of damage to student property was not caused by the fire but by the water sprayed by the sprinkler head in Burton and Hoegh’s room and by the fire department.
Sprinkler heads are individually activated by exposure to heat and can spout water at a rate of 25 gallons per minute.
After the police and fire departments left, Student Affairs staff blocked the doorways to Younker while Facilities Management (FM) staff replaced the window in Hoegh and Burton’s room and set up wet vacuum cleaners to eliminate the water in the hallways, student rooms and the kitchen in the RLC apartment. Security officers who had inhaled smoke during the fire were treated and released by their doctors; Briscoe commented later that he had only a sore throat. FM allowed students on to the third floor and the pit around 2 p.m. and onto the first and second floors at 4 p.m.
Mark Godar, FM director, said the damage to Hoegh and Burton’s room caused by the fire was “amazingly light.” Hoegh and Burton were told that renovations to their room would be completed within a few days; in the meantime, they are staying in Loose Hall.
However, Delwin Pinkins ‘06, who lived directly under the room where the fire broke out, experienced extensive personal property damage from water that seeped through Pinkins’ ceiling around the walls of his room.
Water saturated Pinkins’ computer, television, and other electronics and waterlogged his bed, futon, and sofa. Pinkins was told that his parents’ home owner’s insurance should cover the damage to his private property. However, Pinkins’ mother lives in Mexico, and Pinkins does not have insurance coverage of his own. “It’s just me—I know it’s not going on my home owner’s insurance. It’s going on somebody else’s,” said Pinkins.
Godar stated that Pinkins’ room was the only other room in Younker that would require extended repair work. A new drop ceiling will be installed in the room, and Pinkins has been given temporary housing in Younker North. Pinkins has decided not to allow Tuesday’s events to derail him. “Study, study, study—I’m going to keep my mind off it,” he said.
Hoegh and Burton will not be held financially responsible for damages to other students’ or college property.
Jim Mulholland, assistant treasurer of the college, indicated that it was likely that upon assessment of the damages to Pinkins’ property, “the college will deal with whatever his losses are,” as he does not have any other form of insurance and he was “an innocent bystander,” said Mulholland.
This was the first fire in a student room since Sept. 16, 1991, when a room on Cleveland Second caught fire. According to the S&B, there was a “tentative understanding that it was started by candles.”
The 1991 fire in Cleveland Hall spread to two additional studen t rooms and caused more damage to college property than this Tuesday’s, as sprinkler systems were not installed in residence halls until 2001.
In regards to the college’s policy on open flames in residence halls, Tom Crady, vice president for student services, noted that he wrote a policy banning candles even before the 1991 fire.
Jennifer Krohn, dean for student life, said that Tuesday’s fire served as a reminder that, “just one candle is pretty dangerous.”
However, there was no mention of the open flame policy in the 2004-2005 Student Handbook’s section on “Residence Life & Housing.” Furthermore, the “College Housing Informational Quick Guide” distributed to student rooms by Student Affairs this Fall only cautions that “Candles, Bunsen burners, barbecue grills…should never be left unattended.” Crady said that the clause in the Quick Guide was “unintentionally worded that way. We don’t want Bunsen burners in the residence halls.”
Student Affairs plans to hold another “fire safety” study break in Younker and to publicize its policy against open flames. “Be as careful as you can,” said Mulholland. “In this case, we’re very lucky somebody didn’t get injured.”
Arts | News | Opinion | Features | Sports | Archives | About Us