Page 4
The Record
February 18, 1993
Two fires plague SJU during J-Term
By Sean Murray and
Tom Dudley Editorial Staff Writers
Two fires occurred on St. John's campus during this past January Term. One of the fires was in the South Tower of the Sexton Commons and the other was in 102 Bernard Hall. The Sexton Commons fire happened late on the night of Jan. 9, and the Bernard fire was on Jan. 16.
The Sexton Commons fire was reported at approximately 11:50 p.m. Flames from the fire extended approximately 15 feet from the top of an extended tower of the structure. Sparks from the fire were going in a southwestern direction over Tommy Hall toward the Butcher Shoppe. Students gathered around the walkway between Engel and Tommy Hall waiting for firefighters to put the fire out.
Senior James Elmquist, a student manager of the SJU Information Center, was among the first students to observe the Sexton Commons fire. "I was walking out from the information desk, and I heard this booml I looked over [towards the new student center], and there were flames all over the place."
Brian Bowman, a resident of fourth floor Tommy, added, "Someone- came into my room, I looked out my window and saw flames shooting up from the highest point [of the Sexton Commons]."
Elmquist and Bowman were among approximately 150-200 students who gathered outside Tommy Hall despite sub-zero temperatures. Several hundred others observed the fire from within Tommy, Mary, Bernie, Pat , Bonnie and Virgil Michael Halls.
Although the fire is still under investigation, the preliminary cause of the fire is believed to be a portable propane heater used to dry cement. Initially, concern was expressed over the propane tanks and their susceptiblity to the flames and heat. Firefighters on the scene warned students to keep a safe distance from the area surrounding the commons.
John Ambrose, OSB, SJU fire chief, stated that the tower in which the fire was contained acted like a "chimney, so all the fire and smoke went straight up, and it didn't hurt the building that much."
According to Jim Triplett of Knutson Construction Company, although there was no structural damage done, the heat of the fire caused some spalding in the cement of the
tower. This, however, only caused a three or four day delay in the construction of the new student center.
Triplett estimated the cost of the Sexton Commons fire to be between $20,000 and $30,000, all of it to be payed by the insurance company of the Knutson Construction Company. This price may rise pending the completion of the investigation.
The fire in Bernard Hall started at approximately 9:25 p.m., and it was extinguished at 9:45 p.m. The fire started when an SJU student left a candle burning on top of his VCR in his room while he went to the Butcher Shoppe. The smoke alarm in Bernard Hall went off, and security alerted the fire department.
"When we got there, we could not see a thing in the hall, not even our hands in front of our faces. The door to the room with the fire had been left wide open, so that is why there was so much smoke in the room," Ambrose said. Ambrose also said that when their air tanks became empty, they had to follow the water hose to get outside.
Due to the toxic air after the fire, all of the residents of Bernard Hall were evacuated for two nights. Dennis Luft, Resident Assistant on First Bernard, said most of the students were understanding about the whole situation.
Sophomore Christopher Costello, who lives in Bernard 201, echoed the sentiment of most of the residents affected by the fire.
"The fire was very inconvenient. I only had limited access to my room for two and a half days," Costello said. "I had to sleep on a couch and take showers in a locker room.Tim Feeney, in whose room the fire occurred, said he left his room to go to the Butcher Shoppe, and returned about 25 minutes later. So far, he has not been able to salvage many of his possessions.
"Most of my stuff was ruined either by the fire or by the water, although I may be able to keep some clothes once the smell goes away," Feeney said.
Shawn Vierzba, the head of Life Safety Services, reminded students to read the guidelines regarding the use of candles, as stated in the J-Book: "No open fire is allowed in any building including lounges or porches."
According to the SJU Business Office, the cost of the damage andclean-up was $25,000. Although Saint John's insurance company paid for this, it is expected to eventually be
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Cletus Connors, OSB, Director of Residential Programs at SJU, said that "students need to realize that SJU will pay if it's negligence on the part of the institution, but students will be held liable if they are negligent."
These fires, although unfortunate by themselves, could not have happened at a worse time for the SJU fire department. At the time of the Sexton Commons fire, Ambrose had only been the fire chief for two days. The department was undergoing a variety of personnel changes and reorganization. Furthermore, because the fire happened on a . weekend, some monks on the fire department had already left to assist at parish churches. The fire department had no time to practice firefightingbefore the Jan. 9 fire.
Student reaction to the delayed response of the fire department was mixed.
"I was disappointed in the [department's] response time," stated a first-year student.
Other students, however, thought the fire department's response to the fire was adequate in light of the circumstances.
One of the problems in trying to fight the fire was the inability of the SJU fire truck to manuever around the holding trucks of the
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construction company. The fire truck had to take extra precautions in avoiding the various obstacles on the construction site. This delay prevented the fire fighters from being able to assess the fire and try to put it out sooner.
Furthermore, Ambrose had difficulty with communicating with other members of the fire department and security.
"The battery of my radio was dead. The whole situation wasn't very good. But Avon [fire department] showed up and helped out. They did most of the interior fighting," Ambrose said. He also added the SJU fire department helped out by using the "snor-kel and aerial, truck" to fight the fire from the outside.
Due to the intensity of the smoke caused by the Bernard Hall fire, it was erroneously reported to the fire department that there was also a fire on fourth floor. This caused a slight delay in fighting the fire because, if there were two fires, it would have been more efficient to use the water valves in Bernard Hall. However, since the fire was contained to First Bernard, a hose from the truck was used.
Theseproblemsappeartohavebeen worked out. Ambrose said that since the fires, the fire department and security have coordinated their efforts and tested all equipment in order to ensure it works in a time of need.
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