Scully residents said that the alarm went off around 3:30 a.m. Saturday, leading to an evacuation. The evacuees said they became concerned, however, upon seeing copious amounts of what appeared to be smoke.
“I opened the door, and the entire hallway was filled with yellowish smoke,” Andres Moreno ’10 said. “At that time, I thought that there was really a fire. Since the hallway was covered in really, really thick smoke, it seemed like it was really threatening.”
Moreno added that he saw a used fire extinguisher as he left the building, heightening his concern that there was a real fire.
“As far as we know, [the use of the fire extinguisher] was just a prank,” Eric Schlossberg ’10 said, adding that the fire extinguisher was left on the side of the hallway and that those who had used it were gone before people began vacating Scully.
After they went outside, residents said they were unsure what to do.
“Nobody really seemed to know if we were supposed to go back in or not,” Jacob Hiller ’10 noted.
Even after residents went inside, the alarm on the second floor continued to sound until 8 a.m., Moreno said, at which point Public Safety responded to his call about the ongoing noise.
“It seemed all through the night the alarm would go off at random points. It seemed like the fire alarm itself might be defective,” Hiller noted.
No trigger for the alarm has been found, but Deputy Director for Operations Charles Davall said an investigation would take place.
“We’re certainly going to follow up on [the fire alarm],” he said.
This is not the first time the Scully fire alarms have sounded without apparent cause. Previous false alarms made students complacent regarding the severity of the incidents, Schlossberg said.
Saturday morning’s incident was different, Moreno said.
“What I would normally do is ignore it for a few minutes … A lot of people just ignore fire alarms and hope that it goes off in a few minutes,” Moreno said. “This time, people were scared.”
When Scully residents re-entered the building, students who lived on the second floor returned to a dismal sight, residents said, as the area was completely inundated by fire-extinguisher residue.
When people began to file back into Scully 40 minutes after the alarm sounded, Moreno explained, those who lived on the second floor were prevented from returning to their rooms due to the dust from the fire extinguisher. “They didn’t let us go back to our rooms for about an hour and 10 minutes,” he added.
“Doors and walls are still covered in yellow dust, the stairwells too,” Moreno said.
Read More
David Zielenziger ’74, former ‘Prince’ chairman and lifelong journalist, passes away at 72
Kian PetlinFriends and colleagues remember former ‘Prince’ chairman David Zielenziger ’74, who passed away peacefully on May 20.
Friends and colleagues remember former ‘Prince’ chairman David Zielenziger ’74 who passed away peacefully on May 20.
Remembering Dorothea von Moltke, Labyrinth co-founder and local community builder
Lucia BrownDorothea von Moltke, widely considered the heart of Labyrinth Books, was remembered by friends and loved ones for her passions for language, literature, and local activism.
Dorothea von Moltke, widely considered the heart of Labyrinth Books, was remembered by friends and loved ones for her passions for language, literature, and local activism.
Cloister Inn to pause operations for the next 2–3 years, citing “hefty renovations”
Justus WilhoitCloister Inn, one of Princeton’s eating clubs, will pause operations for the next two to three years, due to “hefty renovations” to the club’s house.
Cloister Inn, one of Princeton’s eating clubs, will pause operations for the next two to three years, due to “hefty renovations” to the club’s house.