Residents of Hillside Community’s Rockland Hall were evacuated Monday evening after a kitchen fire set off the building’s fire alarms and sprinkler system.
“Officers responded to Rockland Hall for a fire alarm and sprinkler activation,” said Investigator Matthew C. Rossie of Binghamton’s New York State University Police. “On arrival they proceeded to the second floor and observed water gushing out from under the door of a suite. They confirmed that the fire was out and found that the kitchen stove vent and surrounding cabinets were burned and charred.”
According to Douglas Rose, department chief of the Vestal Fire Department, the fire, which began at approximately 4:45 p.m., was ignited when a full pot of water and cooking oil on the stove boiled over onto the burner.
Police arrived within two minutes from when the fire alarm rang. Upon the officers’ arrival, students had already evacuated the building and the residents of the suite that caught fire were located and interviewed, Rossi said.
“The sprinkler system did a tremendous job,” Rose said. “It pretty much put out the fire. We had to shut off the system and clear the smoke. After that we started allowing University officials inside to start to work with the water.”
According to the members of both the police and fire departments, approximately two inches of water flooded the common rooms and bedrooms of the suite.
The students in the apartment, who requested to remain anonymous to avoid scrutiny from students, were allowed back into the apartment within a half hour of the police and fire departments’ arrivals.
At that time they were told to collect enough belongings for one night, in terms of books and clothing. Five of the residents were in the apartment at the time of the fire, while the sixth was home for the weekend.
“The fire department and police were very helpful,” said one of the residents. “They did everything they could to keep us calm and informed. The sprinklers gave off two inches of water and it was just sitting there. At least two of the bedrooms were consumed with water.”
At 8 p.m., the residents were allowed back into their apartment once again to claim any other belongings they would need for the night. According to one of the residents, they were informed by Residential Life in a meeting on Tuesday that they would be relocated to Hinman Community for at least a week.
Residential Life could not be reached for comment.
“Residential Life, the fire department and police department were very friendly,” the resident said. “Sodexo donated gift cards to all six of us so we could have money for our meal plans since we did not have any. That was very generous of them.”
Although campus faculty and staff have been friendly to these temporarily relocated suitemates, students in both Rockland and their hall in Hinman have been harassing them since the incident, according to the resident.
“It [the fire] could have happened to anybody, but the people who were inconvenienced and had to leave their rooms for a few hours have made sure to let us know,” the resident said. “It was not intentional. We weren’t lighting candles; we were cooking.”
According to Rossie, the bulk of University police’s fire-related calls are cooking incidents.
Rose agreed, stating that a majority of calls the fire department receives are cooking-related, with people either leaving food unattended, not cooking properly or burning popcorn.
The department, which currently responds to every alarm on campus, is called to campus five to 10 times a year on average for an actual fire, Rose said.
“Students should not be relying on the sprinkler system to put out the fire; something could be wrong with it,” Rose said. “There are never guarantees. The only guarantee is if you are standing outside and watching it, then you are in a safe place.”