Western Front - 1997 November 18 |
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TUESDAY November 18, 1997 WESTERN FRONT Western Washington University Volume 102 Issue 15 Bellingham, Washington Fire guts dorm room Residents evacuate to safety; nobody was injured By David Plakos The Western Front Despite the many, precautionary measures Western has enacted to avoid fires, the room of two women in Mathes Hall was totally destroyed by fire early Monday morning. One of the women living in the room said the fire extinguisher in the hall would not come off the wall. No injuries were reported. A resident in the burned room escaped with only her bible and her photo album, while her roommate escaped with nothing but her life. "That's 18 years of my life, gone," said one of the room's occupants, speaking on the condition of anonymity. The fire ruined room 814 and there was smoke.and water damage to the adjacent rooms and hallway. Fire . authorities said they believe the fire was caused by a malfunctioning clip-on lamp. At 3:44 a.m., the fire alarm sounded and approximately 300 residents were evacuated to neighboring Nash Hall. At 7 a.m., residents of floors one through six and the majority of floor seven residents were allowed to return to their rooms. Jo Collinge, of the Public Information Office, said the rest were "escorted in to pick up a few personal items to last them the next few days." Fifty-seven students will not be able to return to their rooms, due to the fire damage. They will be provided on-campus housing in Fairhaven, the majority in Stack One, which was being used for conference space. Four residents were away for the weekend and will be assigned space when they return. No estimates have been given for when displaced Mathes Hall residents will be able to return; no official damage estimate has been given, either. "If I had a ball-park guess, I'd say $100,000," said Jim Kolb, an inspector with the Bellingham Fire Department. A friend of the women whose room burned said that when one of the women returned for the evening, she turned on her lamp. When it didn't light up, she assumed that the bulb was burned out and didn't turn it off. "When one girl looked up and looked at her room-mate'sbed, there was a fire over her head," Kolb said. Apparently the woman's pillow caught fire, he said. "I don't know how she woke up, but I'm very grateful," said the anonymous resident, referring to her roommate. One of the women proceeded to pull the fire alarm. The smoke detector in the room also sounded. The women said they went into the hall to access the fire extinguisher and got to it, but could not get the extinguisher out of its casing. "My roommate cracked the glass, but the thing wouldn't come," said the anonymous resident. She said that she and her roommate then gave up and just tried to get everybody out of the building. "The room was destroyed — nothing salvageable," Kolb said. Kolb also said when fire officials arrived, the door to the room where the fire originated was open and this was the primary cause of damage to other parts of the hall. "Had that solid door been closed, the heat would have been contained," Kolb said. He added that because other room doors, were closed, other damages were kept to a minimum. "The ladies had problems with the lamp before," Kolb said. The lamp allegedly would not always work when turned on. Several school officials declined to discuss the events that occurred in Mathes and others did not return phone calls. Many residents were instructed to refrain from commenting by their Resident Advisors. One major problem with the evacuation was some residents didn't wake up until late in the evacuation, even with the fire Front/Stuart Martin Mathes room 814, scene of the Monday morning fire that forced students to relocate to Fairhaven. caught on fire. said some residents were upset Jordan Hartt, a freshman who that they had to wait to re-enter lives on Mathes Hall's ninth floor the building. alarm ringing and their RAs banging on the doors, other Mathes residents said. Another problem residents had was many reporters from television stations, including KVOS, arrived to see what happened. "This morning it was obnoxious to see them here this early," said the woman whose room and now relocated to Fairhaven, said most people were feeling relief. "We're just glad nobody got hurt," he said Joel Wood, a freshman who lives on the first floor of Mathes, Eileen Coughlin, vice president for Student Affairs and Dean of Academic Support Services, urged students affected to contact their families to let them know they are safe and where they are staying.
Object Description
Rating | |
Title | Western Front - 1997 November 18 |
Volume and Number | Vol. 102, no. 15 |
Date Published (machine-readable) | 1997-11-18 |
Year Published | 1997 |
Original Publisher | Western Washington University |
Publisher (Digital Object) | Digital resource made available by Special Collections, Western Libraries Heritage Resources, Western Washington University. |
Editor |
Gene Metrick, editor Katherine Schiffner, managing editor Meredith Lofberg, news editor Kristen T. Paulson, news editor Michele Rennie, features editor Craig Scott, features editor Tim Klein, accent editor Steven Uhles, accent editor Carey Ross, sports editor Vincent Verhei, sports editor Scott Morris, opinions editor Suzanne Asprea, copy editor Aaron Dahl, photo editor Ryan Hooser, photo editor Matt Jaffe, online editor Nicky Loi, online editor |
Staff |
Chad Crowe, cartoonist Jason Kelly, cartoonist Teari Brown, business manager Roger Sprague, custodian emeritus Reporters : Jana Alexander Jacob Anderson John Bankston Barney Benedictson Anne Biancalana Addy Bittner Edward Brightman Christopher Brooks Laura Campbell Michael Dashiell Mark Dewar Kristin D. Tomlinson Jai Ferguson Jill Frewing Wendy Giroux Klaus Jeffery Gosma Jennifer Hart Arvid Hokanson Karl Horeis John Jensen Sarah Jones Elisha Joseph Brian Kingsberry Elisha Joseph Jesse Kinsman Melissa Laing Corey Lewis Jennifer Long Stuart Martin Sarah Millington Heather Mills Margaret Negrete Jen O'Brien Jessica O'Hara Jed Palevich David Plakos Tina Potterf Jeremy Reed Heather Romano Christine Root Amber Rose Kevin Rus Rebecca Sakala Melissa Slagle Jessica Sprenger Sarah Stephens Aleesha Towns Jonathan Vann Todd Wanke Jennifer West Marissa Ziegler |
Photographer |
Stuart Martin Ryan Hooser Arvid Hokanson Aaron Dahl Tyler Campbell |
Faculty Advisor | Pete Steffens |
Article Titles | Fire guts dorm room / by David Plakos (p.1) -- Cops box (p.2) -- Western briefs (p.2) -- Official announcements (p.2) -- Western review (p.3) -- Western adds new server / by Heather Romano (p.3) -- Bellingham wants exclusion from state fluoridation plans / by Jana Alexander (p.4) -- Minority percentage stops climbing / by Kevin Rus (p.5) -- Minorities travel for foreign research / by Heather Romano (p.5) -- Non-profits prepare for holidays / by Jennifer L. West (p.6) -- Campus ministries gather / by Anne Biacalana (p.6) -- Snow's falling-are you ready? / by Heather Mills (p.7) --Features (p.8) -- Name of the game is delegation / by Aleesha Towns (p.8-9) -- Who do you think has power / by Aleesha Towns (p.8-9) -- Morse mired by meetings, finds free time fleeting / by Arvid Hokanson (p.9) -- Sports (p.10) -- Volleyball kisses season good-bye / by Jessica Sprenger (p.10) -- Basketball begins with big-time brouhaha / by Jeremy Reed (p.11) -- Cross country team hurries through the flurries / by Mark Dewar, Becky Sakala (p.12) -- Seniors win last game (p.12) -- Final goal is scored / by Jed Palevich (p.12) -- Opinions (p.14) -- Frontline (p.14) -- Letters (p.15) -- Classified (p.15) |
Photographs | [Scene of a fire, Mathes room 814] (p.1) -- Western students crossing Red Square (p.5) -- Jeffery Eugene Bearden, Stephanie Lean Cooper (p.6) -- Adam Short (p.7) -- Shane O'Day (p.8) -- Lynda Goodrich (p.8) -- Lawrence Marrs (p.9) -- Karen Morse (p.9) -- Adrienne Sloboden (p.10) -- Dan DeBord (p.11) -- Karla Kelley (p.12) -- Ryan McGowan (p.12) -- David Plakos (p.14) -- Jane Alexander (p.14) |
Cartoons | [Thud!] / Chad Crowe (p.3) -- Academic accountability plan / by Chad Crowe (p.14) |
Subjects - Names (LCNAF) | Western Washington University--Students--Newspapers |
Subjects - Topical (LCSH) | College newspapers--Washington (State)--Bellingham |
Related Collection | Campus History Collection |
Program | Special Collections |
Geographic Coverage | Bellingham (Wash.) |
Object Type | Text |
Original Format Size | 44 x 28 cm. |
Genre/Form | Newspapers |
Digital Reproduction Information | Bitone scan from 35 mm silver halide, 1-up negative film at 600 dpi. 2011. |
Contributor | The digitized WWU student newspapers are made possible by the generous support of Don Hacherl and Cindy Hacherl (Class of 1984) and Bert Halprin (Class of 1971). |
Rights | This resource is displayed for educational purposes only and may be subject to U.S. and international copyright laws. For more information about rights or obtaining copies of this resource, please contact Special Collections, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225-9103. USA (360-650-7534; heritage.resources@wwu.edu) and refer to the collection name and identifier. Any materials cited must be attributed to Western Front Historical Collection, Special Collections, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University. |
Language | English |
Language Code | Eng |
Description
Title | Western Front - 1997 November 18 |
Date Published (machine-readable) | 1997-11-18 |
Year Published | 1997 |
Publisher (Digital Object) | Digital resource made available by Special Collections, Western Libraries Heritage Resources, Western Washington University. |
Subjects - Names (LCNAF) | Western Washington University--Students--Newspapers |
Subjects - Topical (LCSH) | College newspapers--Washington (State)--Bellingham |
Program | Special Collections |
Geographic Coverage | Bellingham (Wash.) |
Genre/Form | Newspapers |
Rights | This resource is displayed for educational purposes only and may be subject to U.S. and international copyright laws. For more information about rights or obtaining copies of this resource, please contact Special Collections, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225-9103. USA (360-650-7534; heritage.resources@wwu.edu) and refer to the collection name and identifier. Any materials cited must be attributed to Western Front Historical Collection, Special Collections, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University. |
Full Text | TUESDAY November 18, 1997 WESTERN FRONT Western Washington University Volume 102 Issue 15 Bellingham, Washington Fire guts dorm room Residents evacuate to safety; nobody was injured By David Plakos The Western Front Despite the many, precautionary measures Western has enacted to avoid fires, the room of two women in Mathes Hall was totally destroyed by fire early Monday morning. One of the women living in the room said the fire extinguisher in the hall would not come off the wall. No injuries were reported. A resident in the burned room escaped with only her bible and her photo album, while her roommate escaped with nothing but her life. "That's 18 years of my life, gone," said one of the room's occupants, speaking on the condition of anonymity. The fire ruined room 814 and there was smoke.and water damage to the adjacent rooms and hallway. Fire . authorities said they believe the fire was caused by a malfunctioning clip-on lamp. At 3:44 a.m., the fire alarm sounded and approximately 300 residents were evacuated to neighboring Nash Hall. At 7 a.m., residents of floors one through six and the majority of floor seven residents were allowed to return to their rooms. Jo Collinge, of the Public Information Office, said the rest were "escorted in to pick up a few personal items to last them the next few days." Fifty-seven students will not be able to return to their rooms, due to the fire damage. They will be provided on-campus housing in Fairhaven, the majority in Stack One, which was being used for conference space. Four residents were away for the weekend and will be assigned space when they return. No estimates have been given for when displaced Mathes Hall residents will be able to return; no official damage estimate has been given, either. "If I had a ball-park guess, I'd say $100,000," said Jim Kolb, an inspector with the Bellingham Fire Department. A friend of the women whose room burned said that when one of the women returned for the evening, she turned on her lamp. When it didn't light up, she assumed that the bulb was burned out and didn't turn it off. "When one girl looked up and looked at her room-mate'sbed, there was a fire over her head," Kolb said. Apparently the woman's pillow caught fire, he said. "I don't know how she woke up, but I'm very grateful," said the anonymous resident, referring to her roommate. One of the women proceeded to pull the fire alarm. The smoke detector in the room also sounded. The women said they went into the hall to access the fire extinguisher and got to it, but could not get the extinguisher out of its casing. "My roommate cracked the glass, but the thing wouldn't come," said the anonymous resident. She said that she and her roommate then gave up and just tried to get everybody out of the building. "The room was destroyed — nothing salvageable," Kolb said. Kolb also said when fire officials arrived, the door to the room where the fire originated was open and this was the primary cause of damage to other parts of the hall. "Had that solid door been closed, the heat would have been contained," Kolb said. He added that because other room doors, were closed, other damages were kept to a minimum. "The ladies had problems with the lamp before," Kolb said. The lamp allegedly would not always work when turned on. Several school officials declined to discuss the events that occurred in Mathes and others did not return phone calls. Many residents were instructed to refrain from commenting by their Resident Advisors. One major problem with the evacuation was some residents didn't wake up until late in the evacuation, even with the fire Front/Stuart Martin Mathes room 814, scene of the Monday morning fire that forced students to relocate to Fairhaven. caught on fire. said some residents were upset Jordan Hartt, a freshman who that they had to wait to re-enter lives on Mathes Hall's ninth floor the building. alarm ringing and their RAs banging on the doors, other Mathes residents said. Another problem residents had was many reporters from television stations, including KVOS, arrived to see what happened. "This morning it was obnoxious to see them here this early," said the woman whose room and now relocated to Fairhaven, said most people were feeling relief. "We're just glad nobody got hurt," he said Joel Wood, a freshman who lives on the first floor of Mathes, Eileen Coughlin, vice president for Student Affairs and Dean of Academic Support Services, urged students affected to contact their families to let them know they are safe and where they are staying. |
Language | English |
Language Code | Eng |
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