Sebastien Mehegan / Executive Editor
On April 4 around 10 p.m. Keene State College students evacuated Pondside 1 in response to a fire alarm which was set off by a fire on the first floor.
Keene Fire Department Chief Mark Howard said, “We had a fire in one of the dorm rooms that remains under investigation. It does not appear to be suspicious.”
Residence Director of the Pondsides and Bushnell Nicole Cartier said the fire alarm went off at 10:05 p.m.. Cartier said Campus Safety was the first to arrive on the scene, followed by Fire Department trucks about 10 minutes later.
Howard said the sprinkler system was what extinguished the fire in the building. “The fire alarm and the sprinkler systems both activated, which evacuated the building.”
Howard said although the fire was put out, some students will not be allowed back in their rooms for the night. “We’ve isolated [the students] from the first floor and we’re going to try to restore students to the second and third floor tonight, but they won’t be able to stay on the first floor due to water damage.”
Howard could not confirm what room the fire started in.
Cartier said she did not feel comfortable commenting further.
Howard said there will be more information provided pending further results of the Fire Department’s investigation.
Update: A press release issued by the Fire Department regarding the Pondside 1 fire on April 4 stated that the fire damage is estimated to be around $10,000. The investigation of the cause of the fire is still ongoing.
Sebastien Mehegan can be contacted at smehegan@kscequinox.com
