Fire breaks out in Lathrop, displaces students

Shirley Shangguan Guest Writer

Flames filled a garbage can on the third floor of Lathrop House on the evening of Sunday, Sept. 10. Students noticed the fire in the north annex at 6:30 p.m. and alerted authorities.

The Arlington Fire Department arrived on campus while dorm residents were evacuating, and quickly extinguished the fire. The fire department is conducting an investigation into the cause of the incident.

Director of Security Don Marsala was also not certain about how the fire was started, but guessed that a lit cigarette that had been tossed into the garbage was to blame.

The reaction to the fire among house residents varied. “A fire is not unusual. Somebody’s light has overheated before, and there has also been a chemical leak in Lathrop,” said Lathrop resident Chalotte Terry ’09. “But during the fire, everybody was freaking out. It looked like smoke was even radiating out of the brick wall.”

“People from the nook came to the north side to bang on doors. I thought it was a fire drill,” said Lathrop resident Rich Bellis ’10, who reported that Zara Cadoux ’09 called the fire department and that Gil Wasserman ’09 pulled the fire alarm immediately after they noticed the fire.

Not all Lathrop residents were able to smell the smoke, leading some to initially think the incident was a drill.

“I was in my room doing art. I thought it was a fire drill,” said Lathrop House Advisor Jocelyn Tejeda.

With help from Security officers, Buildings and Grounds, and Administrator On-Call and Main and Ferry House Advisor Kara Horn, everyone was able to successfully evacuate Lathrop House, and no one was hurt. Lathrop residents gathered outside while the firefighters investigated. Also, Security officers quickly blocked off traffic coming from Main Circle.

In terms of fire damage to Lathrop, the wall and floor around the garbage can that caught fire were damaged by smoke and scorch marks. In the third floor annex, some of the floor panels under the garbage can were also damaged.

Additionally, the fire triggered the building’s sprinkler system, causing water damage to nearby rooms. Students whose rooms are near the affected area were relocated. Residential Life informed the students that they had to either to stay with friends or be placed in housing elsewhere.

“I wasn’t there at the time of the fire, but when I got back at around 7 p.m. I saw a group of students standing in front of Lathrop,” said Steve Deitz ’09. “Unfortunately, I was displaced by the fire. I can’t go back to my room, so I am staying in a vacant fourth floor room that was issued to me by the [Residential Operations Center].”

Cadoux said, “I am now living in [in a different room in] Lathrop with friends because the fire was outside my room. My stuff has a thin layer of ash on it and smells like fire.”

Three hours after the fire alarm was pulled, students whose rooms were not affected by the fire were permitted to re-enter Lathrop.

As of Monday, Sept. 11, Lathrop rooms 300 through 305 remained sealed off as a result of the water damage caused by the third floor sprinklers; rooms 200 through 205 remained closed off as well due to the sprinkler water that leaked down to the floor below.

Fire trucks returned to campus the day after the Lathrop fire, but this time there were no flames or water damages. On Monday, Sept. 11, the smell of burnt popcorn in a Main Building office prompted someone to set off a fire alarm. All students and employees evacuated the building temporarily. Fire department officials deemed the building safe upon inspection and people were permitted to re-enter the building within an hour after the fire department arrived at the scene.