Arson suspected in weekend dorm fire

Public Safety and fire department officials responded Sunday to two on-campus fires, one of which is being described by officials as "definitely" an act of arson.

Deputy Director of Public Safety Charles Davall said Monday that it was "too early to tell" if Sunday's incidents are connected, "but that will be determined, hopefully." He is urging any individuals with information to come forward.

"What we're looking for is for anyone who saw anybody suspicious hanging around the area or leaving," Davall said. Any individual with information about the fires is asked to call Public Safety; all tips will be kept confidential.

There were no major damages or injuries. The incidents brought the total number of fires in down-campus dorms to four so far this fall.

The fires in Lourie-Love Hall and Scully Hall woke students early Sunday morning. The first incident occurred at 5:16 a.m., when a fire in a fourth floor trashcan in Scully triggered a fire alarm. At 6:32 a.m., a ream of smoldering paper in the basement of Lourie-Love set off a second alarm.

"The Scully garbage can [fire] could have been caused by anything," Davall said, citing a lit match or cigarette tossed into the can as examples. "But the one in Lourie-Love definitely appears that the paper materials had been set on fire on purpose."

After arriving at Scully, officials extinguished the trashcan fire and evacuated about 100 students from the building.

"The fire department and rescue squad vehicles cleared the scene around 6:10 a.m. with a lieutenant from the fire department and fire marshals from the township and university staying behind to investigate the fire," Princeton Fire Department volunteer firefighter Michael Westrol '07 said in an email.

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The officials were still investigating the Scully incident when the second alarm was activated, so "they were able to respond quickly to the alarm," Westrol said.

In Lourie-Love, officers followed the smell of smoke to the source of the fire in the basement exercise room, Davall said, noting that "the fire company spent well over an hour using fans to try to get the smoke smell out."

"The fire alarms worked as they were supposed to," Davall added. None of the sprinkler systems were activated because "the sprinkler systems are activated by heat, not by smoke, and the heat in none of these cases was high enough to set off the system because they are all contained in a very small area," he said.

Westrol emphasized the seriousness of arson, should it be determined as the cause of the fires.

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"Acts of arson needlessly put many people in danger, from occupants of the building to the firefighters and EMTs to people driving on the road when the fire engines are responding," he said.

"The danger to emergency responders was particularly high the other morning, when snow-covered roads made response to the fire dangerous for those of us driving and for the other motorists on the road."

Sunday's incidents are the latest in a series of fires. On Nov. 23, a trashcan fire in a Scully bathroom triggered an alarm around 6:30 a.m. Bloomberg Hall's fire alarm was activated Oct. 21 at 6:18 a.m. by a fire in a trash compactor, Davall said.

Public Safety's confidential tip line can be reached at 258-3705.