Residents of Holloway Hall were evacuated into the Spaulding Gymnasium for over two hours following a steam leak in the dorm.
In a Sept. 7 message shared with Holloway residents, Director of Transitions and Community Living Casey Justice notified residents about the cause of the evacuation and said the team was waiting for confirmation from the Keene Fire Department (KFD) to allow them back inside the building.
KFD was dispatched to the building at 5:12 p.m. on the day following an automatic fire alarm/box alarm alert, according to fire mutual aid logs.
Marco Pazmiño, community director for One Butler Court and Holloway, stated in a 7:41 p.m. email to residents that the college’s facilities team wasworking on repairs.
“It is expected that all students will be able to return to their rooms tonight,” Pazmiño stated.
Additionally, Pazmiño stated hot water would likely return the following day, and urged students to wait in either the student center or the gym.
A follow-up email sent at 9:22 p.m. by Pazmiño alerted residents they would be able to return to the hall, but to stay clear of the first-floor laundry room and the north stairwell during repairs.
The hot water was later turned back on two days after the incident.
In a Sept. 17 email statement to The Equinox, Assistant Director of Facilities Services Colin Burdick stated the steam leak “originated from a piping connection that failed in a manhole by the Dining Commons.”
Burdick said after KFD arrived, they noticed excessive heat from behind the door of the mechanical room in the dorm. When opened, Burdick said steam filled the hallway, causing sprinklers to be set off.
The laundry room was put out of use until a new CO detector was installed because the existing one was damaged by water, according to Burdick.
Nathan Hope can be contacted at
nhope@kscequinox.com
