**Information on the following incidents was compiled through media
sources. The information was not independently verified.**

<table>
<colgroup>
<col style="width: 7%" />
<col style="width: 11%" />
<col style="width: 11%" />
<col style="width: 8%" />
<col style="width: 6%" />
<col style="width: 8%" />
<col style="width: 6%" />
<col style="width: 7%" />
<col style="width: 6%" />
<col style="width: 25%" />
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<thead>
<tr class="header">
<th><strong>Date</strong></th>
<th><strong>Institution</strong></th>
<th><strong>Location</strong></th>
<th><strong>Fatalities</strong></th>
<th colspan="5"><strong>Facility</strong></th>
<th><strong>Synopsis</strong></th>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<th></th>
<th></th>
<th></th>
<th></th>
<th><p><strong>Resid.</strong></p>
<p><strong>Hall</strong></p></th>
<th><strong>Off Campus</strong></th>
<th><strong>Greek</strong></th>
<th><strong>Academic</strong></th>
<th><strong>Other</strong></th>
<th></th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr class="odd">
<td>1/14/00</td>
<td>University of Alabama</td>
<td><h2 id="tuscaloosa-alabama">Tuscaloosa, Alabama</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>It was believed that a student set fire to his dormitory room as
part of an unsuccessful suicide attempt. The fire was limited to the
room of origin. The student was treated for smoke inhalation.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>1/18/00</td>
<td>Rutgers University</td>
<td><h2 id="new-brunswick-nj">New Brunswick, NJ</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>NOTE: The precise date of this incident is unknown. The story was
filed on 1/18/00.</p>
<p>Over the winter break, the Rutgers College Counseling Center and a
neighboring fraternity house, Sigma Alpha Mu, were damaged by fire. The
fraternity was burned down, and the counseling center had to be
demolished because of the damage.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>1/19/00</td>
<td>Seton Hall</td>
<td><h2 id="east-orange-nj">East Orange, NJ</h2></td>
<td>3</td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>On Wednesday, January 19, 2000, a fire occurred at approximately
4:30 a.m. in a common area on the third floor of Boland Hall at Seton
Hall University.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>1/22/00</td>
<td>Heidelberg College</td>
<td><h2 id="tiffin-oh">Tiffin, OH</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>A fire on the top floor of a three-story dormitory forced the
evacuation of 63 students. The 93-year-old building suffered significant
water damage from fire fighting operations.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>1/24/00</td>
<td>University of Michigan</td>
<td><h2 id="ann-arbor-mi">Ann Arbor, MI</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>A room was damaged on the sixth floor of Mary Markley residence
hall. A university spokesperson attributed the cause of the fire to an
“electrical situation.”</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>2/2/00</td>
<td>St. Michael’s College</td>
<td><h2 id="colchester-vt">Colchester, VT</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>A fire at 11:18 a.m. in a garbage can forced the evacuation of Ryan
Hall. The fire was extinguished with a fire extinguisher.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>2/5/00</td>
<td>Clemson University</td>
<td><h2 id="clemson-sc">Clemson, SC</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>At approximately 6:30 a.m., a fire was detected on the fourth
floor of a six-story dormitory at Clemson University. The cause of the
fire was determined to be an unattended candle. Use of candles in the
dormitories is against university policy.</p>
<p>According to an interview by Campus Firewatch with the Clemson fire
marshal, Chris Caracciolo, they have an aggressive program in place for
sprinklering dormitories. They currently have 19 dormitories, seven of
which are completely sprinklered. The remainder are equipped with
partial sprinklers that are being upgraded to full sprinkler
systems.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>2/7/00</td>
<td>University of Kentucky</td>
<td><h2 id="lexington-ky">Lexington, KY</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>A fire that was attributed to an unattended space heater damaged
a fraternity house. A fire that was believed to have been started by an
unattended space heater damaged the second and third floors of the Sigma
Pi house. In press reports, one fraternity member reported that they all
had space heaters because the building was too cold.</p>
<p>The fire came a week after another fraternity, Sigma Chi, was evicted
because of fire-safety violations.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>2/11/00</td>
<td>Atlantic Union College</td>
<td><h2 id="lancaster-ma">Lancaster, MA</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>A fire in a three-story, wood frame, dormitory completely
destroyed the building. The building had 13 apartments, 11 of which were
occupied by students and their families. A university official reported
that there were about 20 to 25 people living in the building.</p>
<p>In an interview with college officials by Campus Firewatch, they
reported that the fire started in an apartment on the first floor. The
resident was cooking, and the grease ignited. They suppressed it with
fire extinguishers, and since they thought the fire was out, did not
call the fire department. However, the fire had already extended into
the walls around the stove and then it spread vertically through the
building.</p>
<p>According to news reports, one of the third floor residents went
downstairs, saw the fire, went back up to his apartment and returned
with a fire extinguisher to fight the fire. He then tried to get back up
to his apartment to retrieve some personal belongings, but was unable to
do so because of the fire.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>2/6/00</td>
<td>Southern Illinois University</td>
<td><h2 id="carbondale-il">Carbondale, IL</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>An unattended candle set an SIU dormitory room on fire. The
extent of the damage is unknown at this time. According to press
reports, there were 103 false alarms last semester with at least 22 of
them deliberate activations.</p>
<p>Students were slow in reacting because of the number of false alarms,
it was reported in the press.</p>
<p>It was also reported that the university does not have a policy
against candles.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>2/9/00</td>
<td>Washington State University</td>
<td><h2 id="pullman-wa">Pullman, WA</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>A fire broke out on Wednesday afternoon, at about 3:30 p.m., in a
room on the 13<sup>th</sup> floor of a high rise dormitory. The fire was
suppressed by the operation of a sprinkler head. The cause of the fire,
according to press reports, was electrical. There were no reports of any
injuries or fatalities.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>2/19/00</td>
<td>Washington State University</td>
<td><h2 id="pullman-wa-1">Pullman, WA</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>A fire occurred at an off-campus fraternity. According to an
interview by Campus Firewatch with Fire Prevention Officer Dragoo from
the Pullman Fire Department, the cause of the fire was determined to be
a candle that was ignited when a sleeping occupant tossed over a blanket
on top of it. The three occupants in the room woke up and found the
blanket and the back of the couch on fire. They were able to stomp out
the fire on the blanket, but were unable to extinguish the couch.</p>
<p>The building was a three-story structure. One portion was constructed
in 1938, and an addition was added in 1968. The building was equipped
with a fire alarm system that automatically transmitted a signal to a
monitoring company. The building was not equipped with an automatic fire
sprinkler system.</p>
<p>The fire occurred on the top floor of the new addition.</p>
<p>For up to an hour after the fire, occupants were being removed from
the building. One occupant was found bound in a bedroom. Another was
removed a half-hour later while attempting to silence the fire alarm
system because he wanted to go back to bed.</p>
<p>Just minutes before this fire, the fire department had responded to
another fraternity where a candle had started a fire. Fortunately, the
occupants were able to extinguish this fire before any significant
damage could be done.</p>
<p>Dragoo reported that there is a significant problem with false alarms
in the off-campus fraternities. He stated that there had been 259 false
alarms in these buildings.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>2/21/00</td>
<td>University of Virginia</td>
<td><h2 id="charlottesville-va">Charlottesville, VA</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>A student was arrested for setting a bulletin board on fire at 2:00
a.m. The fire activated the building fire alarm system.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>2/23/00</td>
<td>Washington State University</td>
<td><h2 id="pullman-wa-2">Pullman, WA</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>A fire damaged an off-campus apartment occupied by students. All of
the residents in the apartment building were students at Washington
State University. This is the second fire in two years in the same
building. The previous fire had been started when the residents put
boxes on top of the stove and then called the utility company to turn on
the electricity. The cause of this fire had not been determined at the
time of the report.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>3/2/00</td>
<td>Brigham Young University</td>
<td><h2 id="provo-ut">Provo, UT</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td>A fire in a laboratory was extinguished by the sprinkler system. A
gel test on a new plastic material was being done in the room where the
fire occurred, although it is not clear from press reports if this was
the cause of the fire.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>3/3/00</td>
<td>University of Toledo</td>
<td><h2 id="toledo-oh">Toledo, OH</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>A series of arson fires since February 17, 2000, had occurred in
Parks Tower residence hall. These fires followed 3 arson fires that had
occurred between December 11 and 15, 1999, on the 14<sup>th</sup> floor
of the high-rise. The building is unsprinklered.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>3/7/00</td>
<td>University of Michigan</td>
<td><h2 id="minneapolis-mn">Minneapolis, MN</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td>A fire in an art building at the University of Michigan at 9:00 p.m.
started in a locker containing oily rages and linseed oil. A student
noticed the fire, activated a manual pull station, but the system failed
to activate. Students attempted to unsuccessfully extinguish the fire by
aiming fire extinguishers through the locker vents. One student donned a
respirator that she uses for art projects.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>3/7/00</td>
<td>Ohio University</td>
<td><h2 id="athens-oh">Athens, OH</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>A cigarette that was discarded into a trashcan started a fire in
Bromley Hall dormitory. The trashcan’s contents were ignited, which in
turn ignited the bed. The occupant was not in the room when the fire
broke out.</p>
<p>An individual that heard the room’s smoke detector notified the fire
department at 12:30 p.m. A maintenance worker also heard the smoke
detector, entered the fifth floor room and then activated a manual pull
station. The fire department was already enroute at this point in
time.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>3/8/00</td>
<td>Pennsylvania State University</td>
<td><h2 id="state-college-pa">State College, PA</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>The Chi Phi fraternity was the site of a fire at 11:30 p.m. The
fire, which was contained to a bedroom on the second floor, was
determined to be related to “a variety of electrical appliances at the
point of origin. Numerous extension cords, power strips and appliances
were utilized throughout the room.”</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>3/10/00</td>
<td>Michigan State University</td>
<td><h2 id="east-lansing-mi">East Lansing, MI</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>A candle started a fire in a resident assistant’s room. The
occupant had lit the candle while praying, and then looked up and saw a
stereo on fire. The fire damaged the stereo, a mattress and the wall,
and the remainder of the room suffered smoke damage.</p>
<p>One of the building residents, when interviewed about burning a
candle or incense, said that she “usually blows it out if I’m leaving
the room.”</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>3/15/00</td>
<td>Western Michigan University</td>
<td><h2 id="kalamazoo-mi">Kalamazoo, MI</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>A fire at 1:30 a.m. on the first floor of Hoekje Hall gutted the
room. Approximately 300 students had to be evacuated from the four-story
building.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>3/18/00</td>
<td>Chipola Junior College</td>
<td><h2 id="marianna-fl">Marianna, FL</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td>A male student was charged with attempted arson. He is accused of
pouring gasoline around the school buildings and shrubs and threatening
to set them on fire.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>3/19/00</td>
<td>Bloomsburg University</td>
<td><h2 id="bloomsburg-pa">Bloomsburg, PA</h2></td>
<td>3</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>A fire in an off-campus fraternity killed three occupants. This
fire occurred in a two story, wood frame building that was not equipped
with an automatic fire sprinkler system. There were six residents in the
building at the time of the fire. Two were able to escape by jumping
from upper story windows.</p>
<p>This is the second fire in a fraternity that occurred in Bloomsburg.
A fire in 1994 killed five students at another fraternity. Following
this fire, a special ordinance was enacted that addressed off-campus
housing. An inspector was hired who was responsible for enforcing this
ordinance.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>3/24/00</td>
<td>Boston College</td>
<td><h2 id="newton-ma">Newton, MA</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>An electrical fire damaged the north wing of a three-story
dormitory. The fire occurred at 5:17 a.m., and forced the evacuation of
37 students. According to a university spokesperson, the damage was
“significant.” A number of students had to be rescued over ladders. Two
students had fled to a sharply pitched roof, and had to also be rescued
by ladders.</p>
<p>The building was a three-story structure that housed freshman
students. It was divided into three sections-A, B and C. The fire
occurred in a room on the third floor of the “C” section. The building
was built in 1971 and was not required to have sprinklers. However,
according to the spokesperson, the dormitory was scheduled to be
equipped with sprinklers by June. The building also did not have a
standpipe system.</p>
<p>A spokesperson for the Newton Fire Department told Campus Firewatch
that the cause of the fire was electrical. There were three power strips
connected together that, in turn, were plugged into a wall socket. There
were 19 appliances, such as computers, a microwave and a refrigerator,
that were plugged into the three power strips. The origin of the fire
was in the vicinity of a mass of wires that were located behind a pile
of books and papers. The fire department determined that one, or more,
of the wires’ insulation failed, the wires overheated, arced and then
ignited the combustible materials.</p>
<p>There were two occupants in the room at the time of the fire. One of
them awoke and saw the fire. The two then fled the room, leaving the
door to the corridor open. As the fire developed, the smoke spread into
the hallway, activating a smoke detector that was connected to the
building fire alarm system. When the fire alarm system was activated, it
notified Boston College security and automatically transmitted an alarm
to the Newton Fire Department, who began responding with two engines, a
ladder and a command officer.</p>
<p>BC Security responded, and reported that there was a fire on the top
floor of the building. This information was relayed to the fire
department, and the response was upgraded to a second alarm.</p>
<p>A problem that arose during the fire fighting operations involved the
security screens over the windows. They were permanently affixed to the
building, and the residents were not able to open them from the inside
to escape the fire. Because of the heavy gauge of the metal used in
these screens, fire fighters were unable to remove them from the
exterior using forcible entry tools.</p>
<p>Because of this, Massachusetts State Fire Marshal Coan sent an
advisory to all of the fire chiefs in Massachusetts. A copy of this
advisory can be found on the Campus Firewatch website by following the
NEWS link.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>3/25/00</td>
<td>Drew University</td>
<td><h2 id="madison-nj">Madison, NJ</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td>A carelessly discarded cigarette damaged a historic administration
building at Drew University. A cigarette fell through the boards on a
porch and ignited kerosene lamps stored underneath. Press reports state
that the sprinkler system stopped the spread of the fire.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>3/28/00</td>
<td>University of Iowa</td>
<td><h2 id="iowa-city-ia">Iowa City, IA</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>Two separate fires broke out in Daum Residence Hall. A poster board
with papers on it was lit on fire at 3:30 a.m., and another similar fire
occurred at 3:52 a.m. Even though the alarms sounded for the first fire,
it was reported that there was no evacuation taking place.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>4/3/00</td>
<td>St. Joseph’s College</td>
<td><h2 id="standish-me">Standish, ME</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>An arson fire at Saint Joseph’s College in Standish, Maine,
resulted in the arrest of a 20-year-old female student. According to
press reports, the fire was the fifth suspicious fire over three
days.</p>
<p>The fire on Monday, 4/3, gutted a resident-assistant’s room on the
first floor.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>4/5/00</td>
<td>Indiana University</td>
<td><h2 id="bloomington-in">Bloomington, IN</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>A fire damaged an apartment complex that housed university students
and employees. Two units were destroyed in a fire that was believed to
be incendiary.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>4/5/00</td>
<td>Brigham Young University</td>
<td><h2 id="provo-ut-1">Provo, UT</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>An air compressor burnt out, causing a small fire that forced
residents to evacuate Lavina C. Fugal Hall. The fire occurred at 3:30
a.m. and has been attributed to an earlier power outage</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>4/8/00</td>
<td>University of Massachusetts</td>
<td><h2 id="amherst-ma">Amherst, MA</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>A fire in a high-rise dormitory was controlled with the
activation of a single sprinkler head. A student was washing his clothes
when there was a power failure. He took his wet clothes and proceeded to
drape them over furniture and fixtures in his room to air-dry them. A
t-shirt was placed over a halogen lamp (that was equipped with a guard),
and a baseball cap was hung over the room’s single station smoke
detector. The student then went to bed.</p>
<p>Power was ultimately restored, and the lamp, which had been left in
the “on” position, ignited the shirt. The shirt then fell down onto, and
ignited, a couch and loveseat that the student had moved from the floor
lounge into his room.</p>
<p>The student was awakened (unknown what awoke him) and he observed the
fire. He proceeded to awaken his roommate, and they evacuated the room.
As they opened the door to the corridor, smoke escaped from the room and
activated a building fire alarm smoke alarm in the hallway. During this
time, the room’s sprinkler head activated, controlling the fire until it
was completely suppressed by the Amherst Fire Department.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>4/9/00</td>
<td></td>
<td><h2 id="pittsburgh-pa">Pittsburgh, PA</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>A fire in clothing that was started when a resident fell asleep
smoking was controlled by the activation of a sprinkler head. The fire
occurred on the fifth floor of an eight-story building. Fire damage,
according to published reports, was estimated at $5,000.</p>
<p>Fire officials were quoted as saying there were problems with
evacuating the structure, and with the audibility of the fire alarm
system.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>4/10/00</td>
<td>University of New Hampshire</td>
<td><h2 id="durham-nh">Durham, NH</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>A fire in a 200-year-old balloon-frame apartment building
seriously damaged the building. Six apartments in the three-story
building were rented by students from UNH.</p>
<p>The fire was believed to have started in an apartment on the second
floor in the area of a fireplace. Each apartment was equipped with a
functional fireplace that apparently the residents were using.</p>
<p>Smoke had reportedly been smelled in the early afternoon, but it
wasn’t enough to activate any smoke detectors. The fire was reported to
the fire department at 7:28 p.m. It required three alarms before the
fire was brought under control.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>4/10/00</td>
<td>Washington State University</td>
<td><h2 id="pullman-wa-3">Pullman, WA</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>Several fires over the weekend in fraternities were determined to
be arson. One of the fires in the Tau Kappa Epsilon house was set in the
stairwell. Fifteen fraternity members were in the building at the time
of the fire. A heat detector was activated by the fire, which alerted
the residents.</p>
<p>A fire in another fraternity was labeled suspicious. A burning
mattress was found on the porch of the Delta Chi fraternity. These were
the third and fourth fraternity fires at WSU this year.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>4/10/00</td>
<td>Massachusetts Institute of Technology</td>
<td><h2 id="cambridge-ma">Cambridge, MA</h2></td>
<td>1</td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>Officials have ruled “self-inflicted thermal burns,” according to
her death certificate, caused the fire that occurred on April 10, 2000,
that killed a female student. The student died on April 14, 2000. The
fire occurred in her dormitory room at MIT.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>4/11/00</td>
<td>University of Virginia</td>
<td><h2 id="charlottesville-va-1">Charlottesville, VA</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>Carelessly disposed cigarettes may have caused a fire in a student’s
apartment. Eight graduate students were left homeless after the fire,
which was estimated to have cause half a million dollars in damage.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>4/12/00</td>
<td>Montclair State University</td>
<td><h2 id="little-falls-nj">Little Falls, NJ</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>A fire in a desk lamp ignited a small fire on the desk. The
occupants of the room were woken by "a crackling sound," observed the
fire and evacuated the room. A sprinkler head activated directly over
the desk, controlling the fire until the arrival of the Little Falls
Fire Department.</p>
<p>The fire damage was limited to a part of the desk, papers, books and
articles of clothing. Water damage was confined to the room of origin
and several adjacent rooms.</p>
<p>The building had been inspected by the state Division of Fire Safety
on March 24. This inspection was prompted by an order from Governor
Whitman, following the Seton Hall fire that killed three students in
January.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>4/17/00</td>
<td>Pennsylvania State University</td>
<td><h2 id="state-college-pa-1">State College, PA</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>A fire broke out in a fraternity that was located in a building with
business and retail stores on the first floor. The Kappa Sigma
fraternity occupied the second and third floors. The alarm was
activated, transmitting a signal to an alarm monitoring company who, in
turn, notified the fire department. The residents silenced the alarm and
then attempted to extinguish the fire with a dry chemical fire
extinguisher. No one called the fire department to notify them of the
fire.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>4/18/00</td>
<td>Pennsylvania State University</td>
<td><h2 id="state-college-pa-2">State College, PA</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>A small fire in a trashcan occurred at the Kappa Sigma fraternity.
The fire was quickly detected by a smoke detector, which sent a signal
to an alarm monitoring company.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>4/19/00</td>
<td>North Carolina State University</td>
<td><h2 id="raleigh-nc">Raleigh, NC</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>A fire started by a burning candle damaged a dormitory room in
Becton Hall. The room’s residents were not present at the time of the
fire. Smoke and heat damage were limited to the room of origin.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>4/27/00</td>
<td>Catholic University of America</td>
<td><h2 id="washington-dc">Washington, DC</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>A fire occurred at The Catholic University of America's (CUA)
Spellman Hall on April 27, 2000 at 1050 hrs. A maintenance worker on a
routine repair job noticed smoke coming from a third floor dormitory
room. He notified authorities of the fire via a portable radio. An RA
activated the fire alarm as she was evacuating the building.
Approximately 100 students were evacuated at the time of the fire. No
injuries were reported.</p>
<p>The 1971 five-story dormitory houses a maximum of 275 students. It is
equipped with a fire alarm system that is monitored 24 hours a day by
the CUA Department of Public Safety. There are no sprinklers or
standpipes in the facility.</p>
<p>The fire was contained to the room of origin by the District of
Columbia Fire Department. The interior of the room and contents suffered
heavy damage from the heat, soot and smoke. The forth and fifth floor
received moderate smoke damage while the second floor received minor
water damage.</p>
<p>The occupant of the room stated that the only appliance she used
before leaving the room was a hair dryer. She also stated that she was
not sure if she left the hair dryer on the bed or dresser. Based on the
available information from interviews and a thorough investigation on
the scene; the District of Columbia Fire Department believes that the
most likely cause of this fire was bedding material accidentally ignited
by a hot electrical appliance (hair dryer).</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>5/3/00</td>
<td>Martin Methodist College</td>
<td><h2 id="pulaski-tn">Pulaski, TN</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td>A historic home was damaged by a fire. The building was to have been
renovated as an administration building.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>5/5/00</td>
<td>California State University at Hayward</td>
<td><h2 id="hayward-ca">Hayward, CA</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td>A fire in a library gutted several offices. No library books were
damaged, but widespread smoke and water damage spread into an adjoining
building.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>5/6/00</td>
<td>Plymouth State University</td>
<td><h2 id="plymouth-nh">Plymouth, NH</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>A fire in an off-campus house rented by students caused extensive
damage to the building. The fire started in a stuffed chair on a lower
level and spread to the room’s contents. As the fire broke out of the
window, it ignited a pine tree immediately adjacent to the house, which
allowed the fire to then spread quickly to the upper story and into the
roof. Three out of five of the occupants smoke, and while the cause
could not be definitively determined; the chief felt that it was
probably smoking materials.</p>
<p>At the time of the fire, there were a number of parties on the street
where the house was located. This street has a large concentration of
off-campus student housing, and the night before the department had
responded to five couch fires outside of the buildings.</p>
<p>There were also “significant alcohol issues involved.”</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>5/8/00</td>
<td>Savannah State University</td>
<td><h2 id="savannah-ga">Savannah, GA</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td>A fire in a 99-year old building was determined to have been
accidental. A cutting torch caused the fire that destroyed the
building.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>5/12/00</td>
<td>Alfred University</td>
<td><h2 id="alfred-ny">Alfred, NY</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>A fire in an apartment house critically injured a student that was
scheduled to graduate in two days. The building, which was a block away
from Alfred University, was entirely occupied by students.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>5/23/00</td>
<td>University of California at Berkeley</td>
<td><h2 id="berkeley-ca">Berkeley, CA</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td>A fire destroyed two marina warehouses belonging to the University
of California-Berkeley. Damage estimates were above $2 million. The fire
required five alarms before it was brought under control. At the time of
this report, the cause of the fire had not been determined.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>6/8/00</td>
<td>Columbia University</td>
<td><h2 id="new-york-ny">New York, NY</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>A fire occurred at the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity. The fire was
located on the top (fifth) floor of the building and occurred at 4:45
p.m. School officials said that the fire was caused by hot work being
done in the area of origin. The initial damage estimate was
$15,000-$20,000.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>6/8/00</td>
<td>Millikin University</td>
<td><h2 id="decatur-il">Decatur, IL</h2></td>
<td>1</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>A fire occurred in an occupied fraternity at Millikin University
in Decatur, Illinois. The fire claimed the life of one male student.</p>
<p>The building where the fire occurred was a three-story wood frame
structure with a brick veneer. It was about 60 to 70 years old, with a
two-story addition that was built in the late 1960’s. The structure had
originally been built as a house and was converted into a fraternity
sometime in the past.</p>
<p>The building was not equipped with an automatic fire sprinkler
system.</p>
<p>The building was equipped with single station, battery-powered smoke
detectors in each of the residence rooms. These detectors were replaced
every year.</p>
<p>There was a fire alarm system in the building that would only sound a
local alarm. It was equipped with detection in the common areas and not
in the individual rooms. It was reported that at the time of the fire
the alarm system was functional, but the audible devices had been
silenced.</p>
<p>At the time of the fire, there were 20 people in the building.</p>
<p>It was reported that there were two means of egress throughout the
structure. One was an interior stairwell that extended to the third
floor. Another interior stairway extended two floors. The second means
of egress on the third floor was onto an exterior deck where an exit
ladder was located.</p>
<p>The stair that extended to the third floor was connected to a common
room on the third floor, which was the area of origin for the fire.
There was a door between the stairway and the common room, but it was
open at the time of the fire. The door, which was a metal, fire-rated
door, was not equipped with an automatic door closer.</p>
<p>There were four residence rooms on the third floor. Two of the rooms
were immediately off the common area where the fire occurred. One of the
rooms was equipped with a hollow-core door between it and the common
room, while the other had a solid wood door.</p>
<p>At the time of the fire, there were two people in two separate rooms
off the common room on the third floor. Normally, there would be five
occupants living in this area.</p>
<p>The fire started in an upholstered chair in the common room. The
cause of the fire is officially undetermined, but fire officials
speculated that it might have been started by careless disposal of
smoking materials. The chair was located approximately eight feet from
the room equipped with the hollow core door.</p>
<p>The fire extended from the chair and involved the contents in the
common room, blocking any possibility of egress from the two residence
rooms.</p>
<p>A passerby, who notified the fire department, detected the fire.
However, this person did not know the exact address. He/she pounded on
the front door of the fraternity to waken the occupants, and then was
able to notify the fire department of the correct address.</p>
<p>The occupant in the room equipped with the solid wood door was
awakened when the smoke detector in his room activated. Using a cellular
telephone, he contacted the fire department and was in constant contact
until the fire fighters rescued him.</p>
<p>It is unclear what actions the person in the room with the
hollow-core door took. He normally slept in the top bunk, and he was
found out of bed, approximately six feet into the room. The door between
the residence room and the common room failed during the fire, letting
smoke and heat extend into the residence room. According to the fire
department, the fire was limited to the common room and did not extend
into the residence room where the fatality occurred.</p>
<p>The cause of death was carbon monoxide poising.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>8/7/00</td>
<td>University of Michigan</td>
<td><h2 id="ann-arbor-mi-1">Ann Arbor, MI</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>A late afternoon fire in a five-story dormitory caused damage to
the roof, which was being replaced at the time of the fire. There was
also water damage down into the building. The cause of the fire is under
investigation.</p>
<p>The building would normally house 900 students. It was not equipped
with a sprinkler system, but was equipped with a fire alarm system with
single station smoke detectors in the residence rooms.</p>
<p>The building was being used to house students occupying a summer
camp, but there were not many students in the building at the time of
the fire. A university spokesperson reported that the dormitory would be
available for the fall semester. No dollar estimate was available at
this time.</p>
<p>Another fire also occurred earlier in the day in the Chemistry
Building. This fire was believed to have been started when a spark from
construction work being done on the exterior of the building ignited
material in the wall. The four-story building was equipped with a fire
alarm system and a sprinkler system. Both activated when the fire
extended into a biophysics laboratory. Damage was limited to
$50,000.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>8/7/00</td>
<td>University of Michigan</td>
<td><h2 id="ann-arbor-mi-2">Ann Arbor, MI</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>A fire in a residence hall damaged the roof and caused water damage
inside of the building. According to university officials, work was
being done on replacing the roof of the five-story structure when the
fire broke out. Summer camps were occupying the building at the time of
the fire, but there were not many people in the building at the time of
the fire. Damage was estimated to be approximately $100,000.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>8/7/00</td>
<td>University of Michigan</td>
<td><h2 id="ann-arbor-mi-3">Ann Arbor, MI</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td><p>A fire occurred in a biophysics laboratory that was caused by hot
works. The room was unoccupied at the time of the fire, which was caused
by a hot work operation on the exterior wall of the laboratory.</p>
<p>The sprinkler system activated and controlled the fire, which caused
$50,000 in damage.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>8/17/00</td>
<td>University of Michigan</td>
<td><h2 id="ann-arbor-mi-4">Ann Arbor, MI</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td><p>A thirty-foot bus was being serviced in the campus maintenance
building when it caught fire and severely damaged the building. The
mechanic had stopped working on the bus at approximately 12:30 a.m., and
within 20 minutes a campus police officer observed flames coming from
the structure.</p>
<p>The cause of the fire was determined to be electrical, and the area
of origin was the bus.</p>
<p>The fire did approximately $1 million to $2 million in damage. The
bus services wing of the building, which is made up of four bays, was
destroyed. The entire parts department for the university fleet, which
is made up of about 900 vehicles, was destroyed.</p>
<p>There was no sprinkler system or fire alarm system in the
building.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>8/18/00</td>
<td>Oklahoma State University</td>
<td><h2 id="stillwater-ok">Stillwater, OK</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>Between 7:30 and 7:45 p.m., a fire was detected in a fraternity. A
resident found papers on fire on top of a mantel and reported smelling
lighter fluid. The fire was extinguished before significant damage was
caused.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>8/18/00</td>
<td>University of South Carolina</td>
<td><h2 id="columbia-sc">Columbia, SC</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td>A graduate student received second and third degree burns when a
fire occurred while he was mixing some chemicals. A sprinkler
extinguished the fire and the building was evacuated for less than one
hour. The fire caused approximately $12,000 in damage.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>8/20/00</td>
<td>University of California</td>
<td><h2 id="berkeley-ca-1">Berkeley, CA</h2></td>
<td>3</td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>A 21-year-old senior from the University of California-Berkeley
was moving into an off-campus house before the start of the fall
semester and was being assisted by her parents. At 6:42 a.m., the fire
department responded to a fire in the two-story house. Upon arrival,
they reported heavy smoke and fire conditions on the first and second
floor of the building.</p>
<p>One occupant was rescued by neighbors from a second floor window
before the arrival of the fire department. Unfortunately, the senior and
her parents were unable to escape the fire and were killed. The cause of
death, according to press reports, was smoke inhalation. The fire was
reported to be started when moving boxes were placed on top of a
furnace.</p>
<p>Three other girls were also reported to be moving in, yet not all
were in the house at the time of the fire.</p>
<p>It was reported that fire officials could not find any evidence of a
smoke detector in the house, which is required.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>8/21/00</td>
<td>Auburn University</td>
<td><h2 id="auburn-al">Auburn, AL</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td>A fire that started in a deep-fat fryer caused the evacuation of the
university’s largest building. Haley Center has 142 classrooms and
houses the university’s bookstore.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>8/26/00</td>
<td>University of New Orleans</td>
<td><h2 id="new-orleans-la">New Orleans, LA</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>A discarded cigar started a fire that broke out at 8:00 p.m. on the
sixth floor of an eight-story residence hall. A bed was reported to be
the area of origin. The fire was contained to one room by the activation
of a sprinkler system. Water damage occurred to areas on the fourth,
fifth and sixth floors, but students were able to return to the building
by 10:30 p.m.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>8/27/00</td>
<td>University of Colorado</td>
<td><h2 id="boulder-co">Boulder, CO</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td>Early Sunday morning students in an area known as University Hills
rioted. About 1,000 people gathered and set fires in the street and
threw bottles, bricks and other objects. This was reported to be the
fifth riot in the area since 1997.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>8/31/00</td>
<td>University of Michigan</td>
<td><h2 id="ann-arbor-mi-5">Ann Arbor, MI</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>A fan in a dormitory tipped over and ignited, causing approximately
$500 to $1,000 in damage. The room was equipped with a single station,
hardwired smoke detector that activated. A passerby heard this alarm and
activated the building fire alarm system, which transmitted a signal to
the university’s public safety department.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>8/31/00</td>
<td>Kansas State University</td>
<td><h2 id="manhattan-ks">Manhattan, KS</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>A fire at the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity caused serious damage
to the building. The building was a three and one-half story, ordinary
construction structure. It was equipped with a fire alarm system that
was comprised of system smoke detectors in common areas and single
station smoke detectors in the bedrooms. The building had an occupancy
of 67 people. At the time of the fire, there were 65 people, and a
housemother, in the structure.</p>
<p>At 4:44 a.m., the Manhattan Fire Department received a call of a fire
in the building. Upon arrival, the first units reported that there was
smoke showing from the south and east sides of the building, with
occupants exiting from all three floors. The occupants were not able to
verify if everyone was out of the building, so crews immediately began
search and rescue operations on all three floors.</p>
<p>The fire department extinguished the fire. Fire damage was limited to
the room of origin, with moderate to heavy smoke damage throughout the
third floor.</p>
<p>According to official sources, three individuals occupied the room of
origin. Two of the occupants were asleep when the third went to bed at
3:30 a.m. At approximately 4:40 a.m., this individual reported that he
was having trouble breathing and he awoke to get a drink of water. When
he returned to the room he observed a fire in the far corner of with
heavy smoke in the room. He woke the occupants, one of whom attempted to
unsuccessfully fight the fire with a fire extinguisher. They then exited
the room and began knocking on doors to alert the other building
occupants.</p>
<p>A manual pull station activated the building fire alarm system. The
fraternity president silenced the fire alarm three times.</p>
<p>During the fire investigation, the fire department was unable to find
evidence of a battery for the smoke detector. When they checked an
adjacent room, the smoke detector in that room was missing its
battery.</p>
<p>Following the fire the fire chief asked that the members of the
fraternity’s alumni board visit the house to view the damage. Acting
Fire Chief Tannehill stated that he attempts to use this type of
incident as an opportunity to educate them regarding the need for
operating smoke detectors and other fire prevention measures.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>8/31/00</td>
<td>Penn State University</td>
<td><h2 id="state-college-pa-3">State College, PA</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>A fire broke out on the fourth floor of an off-campus,
seven-story apartment complex, causing heavy smoke and fire damage to
the apartment of origin. It was reported that the building contained
about 100 apartments, many of which are occupied by students.</p>
<p>The fire occurred at approximately 6:22 p.m. It was reported that the
apartment was occupied at the time of the fire. When police arrived on
the scene, they reported that there was a working fire with heavy smoke
showing. Reportedly, a maintenance person who lived in the building
attempted to extinguish the fire using a fire extinguisher, but was
unable to enter the apartment because of the heavy fire.</p>
<p>The cause of the fire was determined to have been a candle. The fire
damage was contained to one bedroom with heavy smoke damage throughout
the apartment and the hallway outside of the apartment.</p>
<p>It was reported that when the fire department attempted to evacuate
the building, some of the occupants refused to leave.</p>
<p>The complex is comprised of three 7-story buildings that are
predominantly occupied by students. The building where the fire occurred
contains 125 one- and two-bedroom apartments. It is equipped with single
station smoke detectors, with system detectors in the common
areas.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>8/31/00</td>
<td>University of Southern Maine</td>
<td><h2 id="portland-me">Portland, ME</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>A fire in an off-campus apartment building killed one person. The
fire occurred in a wood frame, three-story building that had six
apartments. There were a total of 13 occupants, some of whom were
students from the university.</p>
<p>The fire was reported to have started in the first floor apartment in
a couch at approximately 4:50 a.m. The fire was reported to the fire
department by neighbors from across the street.</p>
<p>Fire officials reported that the cause of the fire was tentatively
being identified as careless disposal of smoking materials. The occupant
of this apartment, a fifty-year old male, died in the fire. He was not a
student.</p>
<p>The fire spread out of the apartment to the upper stories, causing
significant damage. According to fire officials, the building was
equipped with single station smoke detectors that were operating upon
the arrival of the fire department.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>9/7/00</td>
<td>University of Maine at Machias</td>
<td><h2 id="machias-me">Machias, ME</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>A fire in an off-campus building completely destroyed the structure.
The fire was reported to have been started by a cigarette in a bar on
the ground floor. Four students in an apartment on the upper floor were
able to escape without injuries.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>9/12/00</td>
<td>Johnson and Wales University</td>
<td><h2 id="charleston-sc">Charleston, SC</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>A fire in a Johnson and Wales apartment complex destroyed the unit’s
kitchen and living room. Eighteen students were displaced because of the
fire. Five other apartments received smoke damage from the fire.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>9/12/00</td>
<td>University of Minnesota</td>
<td><h2 id="minneapolis-mn-1">Minneapolis, MN</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>An unattended candle started a fire in Roy Wilkins Hall. At
approximately 11:00 p.m., a student was passing by the building and
heard a smoke detector sounding. He activated the manual pull station,
which alerted the occupants of the building.</p>
<p>According to university officials, the fire was started by an
unattended candle on a coffee table in one of the apartments. The fire
damage was limited to the coffee table, with smoke damage in the
apartment. The unit was unoccupied at the time of the fire.</p>
<p>The building is a four-story, non-combustible structure with 74 units
that are a mixture of one- and two-bedroom and efficiency apartments. It
is equipped with a sprinkler system in all of the units. The building is
also equipped with smoke detectors, but details on the system were not
available. The capacity of the building is 137 people.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>9/18/00</td>
<td>Rutgers University</td>
<td><h2 id="new-brunswick-nj-1">New Brunswick, NJ</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td>A small explosion and fire occurred in a classroom building at 6:00
p.m. The incident occurred in a laboratory in Boyden Hall, and was
attributed to a buildup of hydrogen that leaked from a piece of
apparatus.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>9/21/00</td>
<td>Northeastern Oklahoma A&amp;M College</td>
<td><h2 id="miami-ok">Miami, OK</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td>A fire that destroyed a building used as an intramural gym and music
hall was caused by sparks from a welding operation.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>9/25/00</td>
<td>University of Wisconsin-Madison</td>
<td><h2 id="madison-wi">Madison, WI</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>A female student was charged with arson in connection with a fire at
the Eagle Heights apartment building. According to press reports, she
started the fire in her apartment as a suicide attempt, but abandoned
the attempt and fled the apartment. Damage was limited to the apartment
of origin and was estimated to be approximately $40,000. The apartment
building had 12 units.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>9/26/00</td>
<td>Brown University</td>
<td><h2 id="providence-ri">Providence, RI</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>A candle in Emery Hall at Brown University, Rhode Island, ignited a
student's books and papers on fire. She had left the candle burning when
she went to sleep, and was woken when the room's smoke detector was
activated. The student was treated for second degree burns.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>9/27/00</td>
<td>Ithaca College</td>
<td><h2 id="ithaca-ny">Ithaca, NY</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td>A fire in the kitchen of a dining facility forced the evacuation of
700 students from the dining facility and two adjacent residence halls.
The fire damage was limited to the grill area and ductwork. The fire
occurred at 6:41 p.m., and students were allowed to return to their
rooms at approximately 11:30 p.m.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>9/29/00</td>
<td>University of Pittsburgh</td>
<td><h2 id="pittsburgh-pa-1">Pittsburgh, PA</h2></td>
<td>1</td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>A student was killed in an off-campus house fire that was
determined to be arson.</p>
<p>The fire was reported at 6:36 a.m. to the Pittsburgh Fire
Department.</p>
<p>The fire was started on the second floor in the apartment by the
ex-boyfriend of the occupant, who was not home at the time of the fire.
It was reported that there were eight people in the three-story building
at the time of the fire. All, except for the student on the third floor,
were able to escape from the building. The cause of death for the
occupant on the third floor was smoke inhalation.</p>
<p>The building was equipped with smoke detectors, some of which were
hardwired and some were single-station, battery-powered. Officials
reported that some were not operational at the time of the fire,
although it is unknown which ones did not operate.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>9/29/00</td>
<td>Penn State University</td>
<td><h2 id="state-college-pa-4">State College, PA</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>A fire in an off-campus apartment building was contained to the
kitchen of a second floor apartment, with significant heat and smoke
damage throughout the unit. According to Tim Knisely, senior fire and
housing inspector for the Centre Region Code Administration, the area of
origin was the trashcan. It was detected by the automatic detection
system. The building was a three-story, non-combustible, unsprinklered
building that housed a number of students.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>10/5/00</td>
<td>University of Michigan</td>
<td><h2 id="ann-arbor-mi-6">Ann Arbor, MI</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td>A fire occurred in the University of Michigan University Hospital’s
waste incinerator. The incinerator was being dismantled when the fire
occurred. The fire was confined to the incinerator.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>10/6/00</td>
<td>Tennessee Tech University</td>
<td><h2 id="cookeville-tn">Cookeville, TN</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>A fire in a three story, wood-frame fraternity destroyed the
second and third stories of the building in an early morning fire.</p>
<p>According to fire officials, the alarm was called in at 5:28 a.m. A
female witness is reported to have heard a smoke detector activating,
and upon investigation found a fire in the room. She woke the occupants
of the room, who then escaped.</p>
<p>Upon arrival, the fire department reported that there was fire on the
second floor. Several students had climbed out on the roof of the
building from the second floor that had to be rescued by ladders. Some
of the occupants had jumped out of the building from windows on the
second floor, while the occupants of the third floor had come down the
single interior open stairway. One of these occupants suffered first and
second degree burns.</p>
<p>Others occupants who were on the front lawn, could not verify that
everyone was out of the building. Because it was Homecoming, there were
additional guests in the building at the time.</p>
<p>A crew immediately advanced a hoseline to the second floor, while
another crew advanced to the third floor to conduct search and rescue
operations. A second hoseline was advanced to the second floor to assist
in the firefighting operations because the fire had spread from the room
of origin, across the hall into a bathroom.</p>
<p>The fire was brought under control in approximately 30 minutes.</p>
<p>According to Chief Schmid of the Cookeville Fire Department, the
cause of the fire was electrical. In the room of origin an extension
cord had been plugged into a wall outlet, run under a carpet, and then
bundled up under a desk. There were a number of appliances plugged into
this extension cord, including a computer, several refrigerators, a
microwave and other items.</p>
<p>The building was a three-story, balloon-frame structure with a
basement. There were approximately five sleeping rooms-three on the
second floor and two on the third floor.</p>
<p>There were single station, battery-powered smoke detectors in the
individual rooms and in the corridors.</p>
<p>The only means of egress for the second and third floors were via an
open stairway that extended from the first floor to the third floor.</p>
<p>This fraternity had been inspected last year at the request of their
request. At that time, the fire department advised the fraternity to not
use the third floor as a sleeping area because of the lack of adequate
egress.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>10/9/00</td>
<td>University of Nebraska at Omaha</td>
<td><h2 id="omaha-ne">Omaha, NE</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td>A fire at the Omaha football stadium damaged three motorized carts,
football and track equipment as well as the training and weight rooms.
The fire is believed to be accidental.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>10/11/00</td>
<td>Dean College</td>
<td><h2 id="franklin-ma">Franklin, MA</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>An off-campus fire in a multi-family house caused significant
damage to the building.</p>
<p>The building was a Victorian style, balloon-frame structure. The fire
started on the second floor, and was reported to have been caused by
combustible material on top of a stove being ignited when a burner was
turned on.</p>
<p>A resident that was trapped on the second floor made the call to the
Franklin Fire Department at approximately 4:00 p.m. Four people were
rescued from the building, and one was transported to a nearby hospital
for smoke inhalation.</p>
<p>It was reported that there were smoke detectors in the building and
they were operational at the time of the fire.</p>
<p>One of the occupants of the building was a student at nearby Dean
College. Dean College has had two serious dormitory fires since
1995.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>10/10/00</td>
<td>University of Virginia</td>
<td><h2 id="charlottesville-va-2">Charlottesville, VA</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>Too many electrical cords plugged in an electrical panel caused a
fire in the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity. The fire was small, but as a
result, officials inspected the house and found a number of life-safety
violations that resulted in the house being closed until corrections
were made. Some of the violations included miswired electrical panels
and extension cords being used as permanent wiring.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>10/13/00</td>
<td>Rutgers University</td>
<td><h2 id="new-brunswick-nj-2">New Brunswick, NJ</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>A fire in an off-campus apartment building damaged two apartments
and displaced 20 Rutgers University students. The fire occurred at
approximately 5:30 a.m. and was detected by a passing university
employee who saw smoke coming out of the eaves of the building.</p>
<p>The students were awoken by the sounds of fire fighters and police
officers shouting for them to leave the building. One student reported
smelling smoke for an hour before the fire, which was reported to be
electrical.</p>
<p>According to fire officials, the fire started in an exterior wall.
Because the structure was balloon-frame construction, it was necessary
to open up the wall to check for fire extension in the fire building as
well as the adjacent apartment building.</p>
<p>The building of origin was equipped with single station smoke
detectors in the units and smoke detectors in the common areas. The
smoke detectors in the unit of origin were not operational because the
students had removed the batteries.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>10/15/00</td>
<td>University of Texas at El Paso</td>
<td><h2 id="el-paso-tx">El Paso, TX</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td>A fire in an area where sets for theatrical performances are stored
damaged a field house at Kidd Field. The fire occurred shortly after
8:00 p.m.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>10/16/00</td>
<td>University of Mississippi</td>
<td><h2 id="oxford-ms">Oxford, MS</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>A candle that was left burning on a desk caused a fire in Stockard
Hall, a residence hall.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>10/18/00</td>
<td>St. Louis University</td>
<td><h2 id="st.-louis-mo">St. Louis, MO</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td>The compressor on a freezer containing hazardous materials exploded
in a molecular biology laboratory. According to press reports, no
radioactive contamination was found. There were about 15 people in the
laboratory at the time of the explosion, which occurred at about 2:30
pm.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>10/19/00</td>
<td>Penn State University</td>
<td><h2 id="state-college-pa-5">State College, PA</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td>A minor fire occurred in a lab at Penn State University. Smoke
detectors activated and first arriving Police encountered a moderate
smoke condition in the lab. The fire was extinguished using a portable
fire extinguisher. Alpha Fire Company checked for extension using the
Thermal Imaging Camera with no signs of extension found. Damage was
confined to two ceiling fluorescent lights and an office chair. Initial
investigation indicates fire originated at the lamp socket causing
melting plastic from the light shield to drip on the cushion of the
chair. Building was re-occupied after units cleared the scene.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>10/21/00</td>
<td>Northeastern University</td>
<td><h2 id="boston-ma">Boston, MA</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>A fire that started by an electrical power strip in a residence hall
forced the evacuation of 100 students. According to press reports, the
fire alarm never sounded and the police were required to knock on doors
to evacuate the building. The sixth-floor room was engulfed in flames
upon arrival.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>10/22/00</td>
<td>North Dakota State University</td>
<td><h2 id="section"></h2>
<h2 id="fargo-nd">Fargo, ND</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>An off-campus apartment fire caused serious damage at the
University Village in Fargo, North Dakota. According to officials, the
fire started in the attic area of the building near a recessed light
fixture.</p>
<p>The building, which was referred to as ‘F Court’ was a two-story
structure that had 16 apartment-style units. Two students lived in each
unit. The building was equipped with hallway, system smoke detectors,
pull stations and heat detectors in the mechanical rooms. Activation of
any of these devices would activate the building fire alarm system and
transmit a signal to campus security.</p>
<p>There were single station smoke detectors in the individual
units.</p>
<p>The fire occurred on a Saturday, shortly after 6:00 p.m. The fire
started in the attic area above the level of the smoke detectors. It was
first observed by the occupants of the adjacent building, who ran over
and began knocking on individual apartment doors to alert the occupants.
No one activated the pull stations.</p>
<p>According to a fire official, a number of the students did not
believe that there really was a fire and did not evacuate. It took three
attempts before one student finally evacuated his apartment. The
official speculated that if the fire had occurred at night, with the
delayed alarm, the outcome could have been catastrophic.</p>
<p>There were no injuries.</p>
<p>The building was a total loss. A number of the students on the second
floor, on the north end, lost all of their belongings to the fire.
Others in the building had their property damaged either by the fire,
smoke or water.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>10/22/00</td>
<td></td>
<td><h2 id="washington-dc-1">Washington, DC</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>A fire in a house killed one man who was sleeping in the basement
that had only one means of egress. A college student who lived on the
second floor of the house was not home at the time of the fire.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>10/25/00</td>
<td>Santa Fe High School</td>
<td><h2 id="santa-fe-new-mexico">Santa Fe, New Mexico</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td>A fire destroyed the administration in the center of the campus. The
building contained the high school's mainframe computer as well as the
main phone link for the campus. The damage was estimated between $1
million and $2 million. Santa Fe High School has a number of buildings
that are spread out over several acres, similar to a college
campus.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>10/27/00</td>
<td>University of Massachusetts</td>
<td><h2 id="amherst-ma-1">Amherst, MA</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>An off-campus house where five students lived was severely
damaged by a fire that occurred at approximately 10:00 p.m.</p>
<p>The building where the fire occurred was a two-story, wood frame
structure. Either four or five students from the University of
Massachusetts occupied it.</p>
<p>There were conflicting accounts of how the fire started. According to
one report, the fire was caused when a student was attempting to use
kerosene to refuel a Halloween decoration on the front porch. Another
account was that the pumpkin ignited from the flame inside of it, and
the fire spread to the porch.</p>
<p>It was reported that the occupants attempted to extinguish the fire,
but were unsuccessful. They then left the front door of the house open,
which allowed the fire to spread rapidly to the interior and up the
stairway, which was immediately adjacent to the front door.</p>
<p>The building was a total loss and was subsequently
demolished.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>10/28/00</td>
<td>Pittsburgh State University</td>
<td><h2 id="pittsburgh-pa-2">Pittsburgh, PA</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td>A fire that was caused by a power strip occurred in Heckert-Well
Hall, killing about one-third of a collection of snakes, mammals, birds
and other animals, as well as destroying tens of thousands of dollars of
equipment.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>11/2/00</td>
<td>Defiance College</td>
<td><h2 id="defiance-oh">Defiance, OH</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td>A fire was set over the weekend in a closet in Schomburg Auditorium.
Most of the damage was caused by smoke, and the fire was contained to
the closet.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>11/5/00</td>
<td>University of Vermont</td>
<td><h2 id="burlington-vt">Burlington, VT</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>A fire in a house off-campus rented by five students injured
three of the occupants.</p>
<p>The building where the fire occurred was a wood, balloon-frame
structure with three stories. The building was equipped with smoke
detectors, and there were two in the apartment of origin. One was
located in the hallway by the bedroom, and the other was located in the
living room.</p>
<p>An exterior and interior stairway led to the third floor. However,
they were not separate or remote from one another.</p>
<p>There were three apartments in the building. In the apartment of
origin, on the third floor, there were four bedrooms.</p>
<p>At 6:08 a.m., the fire department responded to the house for a
reported fire. Upon arrival, they were told that there were people
trapped on the third floor. Firefighters entered the building via the
exterior stairway and had to crawl beneath the flames until they found
one unconscious male. He was removed from the building and was in
respiratory arrest.</p>
<p>Search operations continued and an unconscious female victim was
found in one of the bedrooms. She was also removed from the building and
was in respiratory arrest. A third victim was treated for injuries
sustained when he and another male jumped from their bedroom windows
onto the roof of a first story porch.</p>
<p>The fire was extinguished in 20 minutes, and damage was confined to
the third-floor apartment. Damage was estimated to be approximately
$50,000.</p>
<p>The investigation determined that the fire started in the living room
couch by improper disposal of smoking materials. There were the remains
of alcohol bottles, candles and cigarettes found on the living room
table.</p>
<p>According to fire officials, the fact that the stairways were not
remote and separate was a contributing factor to one of the injuries
that occurred.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>11/10/00</td>
<td>University of Miami</td>
<td><h2 id="oxford-oh">Oxford, OH</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>A fire in an off-campus fraternity seriously injured one
student.</p>
<p>The building where the fire occurred was the Sigma Chi fraternity. It
is a three-story, masonry structure. The hallway outside the room of
origin had been covered with wood paneling sometime in the past.</p>
<p>The building was equipped with single station, battery-operated smoke
detectors in the hallways and in the individual rooms. The building was
equipped with a local fire alarm system that could be activated by
manual pull stations.</p>
<p>There were officially 45 people living in the building, but it was
reported that there were an unknown number of guests in the building at
the time of the fire.</p>
<p>The fire was reported to the fire department at 5:10 a.m. According
to the occupant of room 208, he had lit a four-wick candle at
approximately 3:00 a.m. while studying. At approximately 5:00 a.m., he
went to take a shower and left the candle burning on a table with
combustible materials nearby.</p>
<p>When he returned from the shower, he could hear the smoke detector in
the room sounding. He opened the door and observed the end of the couch
on fire. He closed the door, went about 30 feet down the hall to get a
friend, and they returned with a CO2 fire extinguisher and a pressurized
water fire extinguisher, which was not charged.</p>
<p>They opened the door, and the room was heavily involved with fire.
They discharged the CO2 fire extinguisher in the room and then
retreated. Because of the heavy fire, they were not able to close the
door. They began alerting the other occupants of the building, and
someone pulling a manual pull station activated the local fire alarm
system.</p>
<p>Upon arrival, the fire department reported smoke and fire extending
out of second-story windows on the second floor. A crew went to the
second floor, while another crew equipped with a thermal imaging camera
went to the third floor. As they entered the third floor, which was
heavily charged with smoke, they found a male victim in the bathroom.
This victim was removed from the building and transported to the local
hospital. He was then flown to a level1 trauma center in Dayton, Ohio.
According to fire officials, he is recovering at this time.</p>
<p>The fire extended out of the room of origin through the open door and
into the hallway, consuming the combustible wall paneling. It also
extended to the third floor and the attic via the window. Three rooms
were damaged by direct flame impingement. The fire chief estimated the
loss at $500,000.</p>
<p>Earlier in the evening, there had been a small fire in a room down
the hall from room 208. A lit candle had been placed on top of a
speaker, and had been vibrated off. It ignited some combustible
materials, but was quickly extinguished. This is why the CO2 fire
extinguisher that was used in the subsequent fire was positioned in the
hallway.</p>
<p>The fire chief cited candles as becoming a significant problem in his
community. He mentioned an incident where they had gone into a
fraternity and found an unattended lit candle resting on a Styrofoam
plate, on top of a blanket, resting on a pool table. He estimated that
they are finding evidence of candles in 70 to 80% of the rooms where
they conduct inspections. Often, they are located on the lower levels of
bookcases, with combustible materials above them.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>11/14/00</td>
<td>Hampshire College</td>
<td><h2 id="amherst-ma-2">Amherst, MA</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>A fire occurred in an apartment-style residence hall.</p>
<p>The building where the fire occurred was a three-story, wood frame
structure that had been built about 25 years ago. It was equipped with a
sprinkler system.</p>
<p>At 4:43 p.m., the Amherst Fire Department responded to a report of an
alarm sounding. Enroute, it was reported that the sprinkler system had
activated, and additional units were dispatched.</p>
<p>There were moderate smoke conditions upon arrival. It was determined
that two sprinkler heads had activated in the kitchen area of one of the
apartments.</p>
<p>Subsequent investigation determined that a female occupant had put a
pan of oil on the electric stove and then left the unit. The oil
ignited, and the fire caused two sprinkler heads to open, controlling
the fire. Fire damage was limited to the immediate area of the stove,
with some water damage in the apartment unit. Damage was estimated to be
$1,500.</p>
<p>Because the fire was controlled by the sprinkler system, it was not
necessary to advance any lines into the building.</p>
<p>NOTE: Hampshire College was the site of a fire in April 2000 in
another apartment-style dormitory. The fire in April occurred in a
non-sprinklered building and caused significant damage to the apartment.
During the summer, the portion of the building damaged by the fire was
equipped with a fire sprinkler system, and the other half of the
building will be equipped with one next summer.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>11/15/00</td>
<td>Kean University</td>
<td><h2 id="union-nj">Union, NJ</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td>A fire in an elevator motor injured six people. The motor caught
fire and trapped six people inside the elevator. The police were able to
open the elevator and rescue the occupants. All were treated and
released.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>11/16/00</td>
<td>Lee College</td>
<td><h2 id="baytown-tx">Baytown, TX</h2></td>
<td>1</td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>An off-campus house fire claimed the life of a 21-year-old student.
The fire occurred in a house where there was no heat because it was
being remodeled. The fire started in the back bedroom where the student
was sleeping. His body was found in the dining room. There was no
evidence of a space heater or smoke detector found.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>11/17/00</td>
<td>Washington State University</td>
<td><h2 id="pullman-wa-4">Pullman, WA</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>Two fraternity men were arrested for allegedly breaking into the
Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority and setting off a smoke bomb that ignited a
portion of the carpet. Smoke alarms were activated because of the fire.
Both men admitted they were intoxicated at the time of the
incident.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>11/20/00</td>
<td>Montclair State University</td>
<td><h2 id="montclair-nj">Montclair, NJ</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>An electrical fire forced the evacuation of 600 students for one
hour. According to press reports the students were using a fire when the
plug short-circuited, causing the fire.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>11/22/00</td>
<td>New York University</td>
<td><h2 id="new-york-ny-1">New York, NY</h2></td>
<td>1</td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>A graduate student was killed in an apartment fire. Three candles
at the foot of her bed that ignited her mattress started the fire. The
woman, Helen Carnegie, 25, was found lying on the floor next to the bed.
At the time of the press account, an autopsy had not been completed, but
it was reported that she appeared to have died of smoke inhalation.</p>
<p>According to Fire Commissioner Thomas Von Essen, there have been 239
fires started by candles this year. This fire was the 13<sup>th</sup>
fatal candle fire, an increase of eight from the previous year.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>11/23/00</td>
<td>University of Nevada-Las Vegas</td>
<td><h2 id="las-vegas-nv">Las Vegas, NV</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>A fire in a residence hall on Thanksgiving morning was controlled by
the activation of a sprinkler system. The fire broke out during
Thanksgiving break and caused water damage to six rooms. The room was
unoccupied at the time of the fire.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>11/26/00</td>
<td>Oregon State University</td>
<td><h2 id="corvallis-or">Corvallis, OR</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>An OSU senior was able to escape an early morning fire that caused
significant damage to her house. She was the only one of the five
occupants that was home at the time of the fire. According to press
reports, she was awoken by the sound of breaking glass, opened her door
and was faced with a wall of smoke. She was able to make it through the
smoke and escape from the building.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>12/4/00</td>
<td>Washington State University</td>
<td><h2 id="pullman-wa-5">Pullman, WA</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>A fire in an apartment at the University of Washington was started
when a mattress was left on a baseboard heater. The fire was contained
to the room of origin because of a closed door, according to a
spokesperson. The fire did not damage the other two apartments in the
building.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>11/30/00</td>
<td>Tennessee Tech University</td>
<td><h2 id="cookeville-tn-1">Cookeville, TN</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td>Two fires occurred in Prescott Hall. The first was believed to have
been started by a fan motor. The second was discovered four hours later
by a security guard and destroyed a four-room office. Other areas of the
building were damaged by smoke and water and classes had to be relocated
to other buildings.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>11/30/00</td>
<td>University of California-Berkeley</td>
<td><h2 id="berkeley-ca-2">Berkeley, CA</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>Two fires in a dormitory are suspected to be arson. The fire
department responded to fire alarms in the building shortly after 3:00
a.m. where they found two separate fires. One had been ignited in the
laundry room while a second was occurred in a pile of papers in a second
floor hallway.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>12/8/00</td>
<td>Seton Hall University</td>
<td><h2 id="south-orange-nj">South Orange, NJ</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>A small trash can fire in Boland Hall, the site of the tragic
January 2000 fire that killed three students, was extinguished by the
activation of the sprinkler head. Six hundred students were
evacuated.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>12/9/00</td>
<td>Bryant College</td>
<td><h2 id="smithfield-ri">Smithfield, RI</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>A fire started by a candle in a four-story dormitory injured two
students. Two public safety officers were also taken to the hospital for
evaluation. The fire occurred when the candle was knocked over onto the
bed. Bryant has a policy against the use of candles.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>12/9/00</td>
<td>University of North Carolina</td>
<td><h2 id="chapel-hill-nc">Chapel Hill, NC</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>A fire in the Sigma Nu fraternity was controlled by the
activation of two sprinklers. According to an interview by Campus
Firewatch with Fire Chief Dan Jones, the occupant had discarded an
ashtray into a plastic wastebasket and then left the room. The contents
of the wastebasket were ignited, which subsequently spread to adjacent
combustibles. Two sprinkler heads in the room of origin operated,
extinguishing the fire.</p>
<p>The occupants of the house were unaware that a fire had occurred, and
contacted the fire department because they believed a sprinkler head had
failed. Upon investigation by the fire department, the fire was
discovered.</p>
<p>The sprinkler system had been connected to the water supply only two
days before the incident. All fraternities are under a mandatory
sprinkler ordinance, and must have sprinkler systems installed by
September 2001.</p>
<p>Sigma Nu is immediately adjacent to the Phi Gamma Delta house, which
was the site of the fatal fire in 1996 that killed five
students.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>12/10/00</td>
<td>University of Dayton</td>
<td><h2 id="dayton-oh">Dayton, OH</h2></td>
<td>1</td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>A fire in a house owned by the University of Dayton killed a
student on Sunday, December 10. Austin Cohen, 21, of Loveland and a
senior at the university, died in the fire. There were eight students
living in the house at the time of the fire. According to reports, the
residents had extinguished an earlier fire at the house. One of the
occupants, a University of Dayton student, was later arrested and
charged with involuntary manslaughter and arson.</p>
<p>According to fire department officials, the fire alarm system was
disconnected at the time of the fire.</p>
<p>The building was a two-story, wood frame building that was owned by
the University of Dayton. According to fire officials, the university
was buying a number of properties to use for student housing.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>12/10/00</td>
<td>University of Texas</td>
<td><h2 id="austin-tx">Austin, TX</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>A fire caused $1.5 million in damage following a holiday party in
the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. It was caused when someone discarded
a cigarette onto shredded paper that had been strewn on the floor to
simulate snow. The fraternity system had agreed to undergo fire
department inspections before such gatherings, but the Austin Fire
Department had not been contacted before this fire.</p>
<p>It was reported that the floor was covered with 18 inches of
confetti.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>12/12/00</td>
<td>University of Missouri at Columbia</td>
<td><h2 id="columbia-mo">Columbia, MO</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td><p>On December 12, 2000 at approx. 10:15 PM the Columbia Missouri
Fire Department responded to a fire at the Rollins Cafeteria. Rollins
Cafeteria is a central dining hall adjoined at common entrances to two
7-story residence halls.</p>
<p>The fire was in a utility room just off the kitchen. The contents in
a dryer caught fire when employee's placed cleaning towels in the dryer
for an extended period. The towels should not have been dried but rather
hung to dry on a clothesline. A five gallon plastic bucket on top of the
dryer added to the fuel load.</p>
<p>The fire was controlled and all but extinguished by a single
sprinkler head activation. This is a limited area sprinkler for the
cafeteria only and does not cover the residence halls themselves.</p>
<p>Residence hall assistants performed well during the fire and the
building was evacuated in short order with little trouble from the
residents despite the fact it was 8 degrees outside. Residents were
displaced to nearby residence halls for about 1-½ hours.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>12/17/00</td>
<td>George Washington University</td>
<td><h2 id="washington-dc-2">Washington, DC</h2></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td>A fire in an underground electrical vault on the GWU campus forced
the evacuation of three dormitories.</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>