Students of the all-girls floor in Hedrick Hall awoke to the
sound of sprinkler water being shot from the ceiling Wednesday
morning, rather than their usual awakening by alarm clocks.
At least two dormitory rooms were damaged by the sprinklers,
including the dorm of the floor’s resident assistant, who
wasn’t present at the time of the incident, around 7:45
a.m.
It was the sprinkler noise, not the RA, which caused several
students to evacuate their dorms.
“We couldn’t hear the fire alarm from within our
room because of the sound of the sprinklers,” said Emily
Adams, a first-year art student whose dorm was damaged by the
sprinklers.
Students reported the water was black and oily, and it released
a putrid smell.
Housing director Michael Foraker was unaware of what caused the
fire alarm and sprinklers to go off, but was certain safety
precautions took place.
“We evacuated the entire building,” Foraker
said.
A sense of frustration loomed over the residents of
Hedrick’s fifth-floor as the sprinklers created substantial
damage, yet no disaster was reported.
“If there was a fire, the sprinklers would’ve made
the fire worse because they were pretty much spitting out
oil,” Adams said.
Books, clothes and other articles placed on the floor were
stained by the black debris in the water.
Students in the affected rooms were forced to remove all
articles from the desks, the floor and one of the closets, and were
provided large bins to store the items.
They were told Housing officials were going to soak up the water
and shampoo the floor, but were not given a timetable as to when it
would be complete or if they could spend the night in their
dorms.
Some students unsure of the status of their rooms had already
made arrangements to sleep elsewhere.
Adams said her violin was damaged, and she later filed a report
with her RA when the RA returned.
Cases involving damage to students’ belongings are handled
directly by the Housing Administration and individual students.
Suzanne Seplow, director of the Office for Residential Life, was
not available for comment.