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Fire Breaks out in Wall
by Blaise Shaw
Mars Hill Fire Dept. responds quickly to the call of duty
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A small fire broke out in a third floor office in Wall Science building on the morning of March 7. At this time the exact cause of the fire is undetermined.
The fire broke out in fashion professor Brenda Russell's office between approximately 10:10 and 10:30, while she was attending a faculty meeting. The fire department arrived within minutes of the alarm and quickly had things under control. An electrical fire has been speculated, but the State Bureau of Investigation has yet to confirm or deny this theory.
Two biology majors from Dr. Jerome May's class responded. Dana Jolley called in the fire department while Josh Turpin helped to extinguish the fire.
Tammy Rosseter was in the building when the fire broke out. When she heard the window shatter from pressure she thought a student in the chemistry lab had dropped some glass beakers. No alarm sounded so she learned of the event when students from upstairs came running down yelling fire.
"There is no actual electronic alarm system. There is a bell alarm on the fourth floor because it is the Chemistry lab," explained Officer Tom Fulmer. The building was "grandfathered in", meaning this building was built before the current fire codes were established, so it is legal.
Rosseter said, "Brenda Russell's office was on fire. The curtain covering the painted window panes were in flames. The electrical socket that the computer was plugged into was located right against that wall.'' Plugged into the same outlet, she said, was a mini-heater that was believed to be off.
Mrs. Russell had not come into her office yet but had shown up at the meeting. "She seemed very shook up," Rosseter said. "Today's events were very exciting but a sure tragedy for Mrs. Russell."
Senior Bruce Aycock said, "If Wall ever catches on fire for very long, I'm going to Asheville. With the chemistry lab on the fourth floor, fashion on third, and biology on the second, that building will be nothing but a crater.''
With all the chemicals located on the second and fourth floors, and cloth on third, a true catastrophe was averted due to the quick thinking and actions by students, faculty, and the Mars Hill Fire Department.
Officer Fulmer commented "we had a quick response. It only took the fire department the time to get to the station and then to here (Wall)." He attributed the response time and actions to "good communication between departments."
The damage was minimal, but more investigations are to be held.
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