The electrical heater in Owl’s Nest 1 is what caused an electrical fire to occur on Monday, April 1 in the common room on the second floor.
The fire was contained to the heater.
Colin Burdick, assistant director of facilities services said in an April 3, phone interview, that the facilities team is going through all the Owl’s nests and checking the heaters.
Burdick stated in a Monday, April 8 email to The Equinox, that the process of going through the Owl’s Nests is still ongoing.
Burdick said it is unknown what caused the incident to occur.
“If we find something not working properly, we’ll just create a list to see, ‘Do we have to replace some?’ Where are they all that stuff,” Burdick said over the phone. “Our electricians are going around doing that as we speak.”
The team is opening up each heating unit and cleaning it from any debris or dust that might have gotten trapped inside, along with doing a visual inspection.
As for the damage reported on the first-floor room, Burdick said firefighters from Keene Fire Department opened up the floor to make sure nothing spread to the room below.
Additionally, Burdick said in the email the repairs “are expected to wrap up this week.”
No other buildings on campus have the same heating unit style as the Owls Nest buildings, Burdick said.
Jennifer Ferrell, associate vice president for student engagement, said the temporary dining staff resident whose room was impacted was relocated to a different room within Owl’s Nest 1.
“We’re very fortunate to have a really good partnership with them [Keene Fire Department] too and they are very in tune with where all of the locations are on campus,” Ferrell said.
She said some people might not necessarily know which Owl’s Nest is which, but since the fire department arrives anytime the fire alarm sounds, they know exactly where everything is.
Tim Bruns can be contacted at
tbruns@kscequinox.com
