March 1, 2011 - 10:12pm
Candle causes small fire in South Quad, leads to building evacuation
BY SABIRA KHAN
A small fire in South Quad led to a 25-minute evacuation of all residents on Thursday afternoon.
According to Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Diane Brown, the fire was caused by a candle in a resident’s room that ignited a piece of luggage. The fire was quickly put out, she said.
“It was extinguished promptly by a Housing security officer,” Brown said.
Brown said because the fire was extinguished efficiently, extensive clean up will not be required.
“There’s minimal damage, and the sprinkler system did not have to activate which is a big deal because that produces an awful ... lot of water damage and also a lot of clean up, so there’s minimal clean up that will take place,” she said.
LSA freshman Megan Meyers, a South Quad resident, said she arrived at the residence hall soon after the alarm rang.
“Fire fighter trucks showed up — when I got here there were two and ambulances,” Meyers said. “I don’t think anyone was hurt because the ambulance left, so I think everyone was okay.”
According to Brown, by the time the Ann Arbor Fire Department arrived on the scene, the fire had already been extinguished.
“The fire was out before (AAFD) arrived, but they … double checked to make sure that the fire was out and was not in any danger of restarting,” Brown said.
According to Brown, residents were able to reoccupy the building by 12:10 p.m.
LSA sophomore Josh Bouy, a South Quad community assistant, said he was in the building when the alarm went off.
“To my knowledge, it was not a drill, it was an actual incident,” Bouy said. “But within 20 or 30 minutes all residents were able to come back in safely, so no major harm seems to have been done.”
