Around 3:30 Friday morning, students living in High Rise awoke to another evacuation.
The High Rise dormitory was evacuated for a second time, sparking disbelief and frustration among residents of the hall. Emergency vehicles were quick to respond to the scene.
The possible cause for the evacuation lies once again in the dorm’s boiler room. Sophomore biology major Brennan McNeil was one of the first people to spot the hazard.
“I was the first one down in the electrical room,” McNeil said. “There was smoke coming out of the main conduit in the back – white smoke. It smelled like a fire – a chemical. So, campus security came up, we met them in the lobby. They declared that we needed to be on alert. We called the fire department. At that point, we decided that it was best to evacuate everybody.”
From Kim Chaudoin, Lipscomb’s director of corporate communication:
Work to repair the line began at about 5 a.m. this morning. Emergency generators for affected areas are in transit to campus. At this point, it is not known if this is related to yesterday’s water line incident. The university is in the process of bringing in outside contractors to thoroughly review all utility issues that might be related.
“It smelled like smoke in the stairwells,” RA Adam Sain said.
“About 3:15 this morning, a breaker blew in a substation that we have here on campus,” Chaudoin said. “It kind of threw a surge through the line, and there’s a conduit that’s near the steam plant, and under the manhole there’s a manhole cover, and it caught that on fire, I guess just that surge of when a breaker blows, so it caught some of those pipes under there on fire.”
“[The fire from the pipes] generated a lot of smoke that went through the manhole line, and then it unfortunately went the direction of High Rise,” Chaudoin added.
While many students are frustrated with the second evacuation, some good can be found. High Rise RA Tyler Osbourne highlighted the resident’s evacuation process.
“We evacuated at least five times as fast as we did last night, so the boys did a good job,” said Osbourne.
At 10:00 a.m. on Friday, Sam Smith, Associate Dean of Campus of Life, sent an email to residents of High of Rise apologizing for the inconvenience as well as giving them an update on the situation.
First, let me apologize for the inconvenience the past two nights created for you. Although these two incidents were outside of our control our emergency response team is committed to working through these issues to provide you with a safe living environment. I am thankful for your quick response and cooperation during both evacuations. Going through an evacuation is not fun but the way you have handled each situation created a smooth process that allowed the emergency responders and facilities workers to take care of their responsibilities.
Next, I want to update you concerning this morning’s evacuation. Due to the electrical malfunction High Rise is still without power. We have an outside contractor on site working to repair the issue as well as running diagnostic tests to help prevent similar events in the future. In addition, we have generators arriving today that will reestablish electricity until the contractors finish the repair. We believe that electricity will be restored by this afternoon. If, for some reason, we are unable to reestablish electricity then we already have alternative housing plans for the next few days. If we needed alternative housing for tonight and you don’t have another place to stay then please email me ASAP so I can contact you with details. Again, alternative housing is only a last resort plan if the contractor is unable to reestablish the electricity.
In addition, we are striving to find ways to help minimize the inconveniences you have experienced. We are providing free coffee in Starbucks again today for all High Rise residents. We are also planning a special meal next week for all High Rise residents. This will give you a chance to eat some great food and will give our team an opportunity be with you in person.
Finally, I want to recognize the great work of Mike Smith and his RA team. These guys have worked extremely hard, been very patient, and performed at a high level during these challenging situations. Mike and the High Rise RA team did an awesome job and should be commended for their work.
As of 5:30 AM, all emergency vehicles had left the premises.
The dorm re-opened around the same time with power still out in the building. Flashlights were made available in the lobby.
Chaudoin acknowledged that classes will resume as scheduled today and that High Rise was the only on-campus facility to be currently affected by the events as of 6 AM.
“Everybody else is fine – no water issues, no power issues. It’s isolated to just the electricity in High Rise,” Chaudoin said.
While tonight’s evacuation may not have reached the magnitude of the pipe burst, many High Rise residents note the strangeness in the situation.
“You figure after one incident, [an evacuation] isn’t going to happen a second night in a row,” said junior High Rise resident Evan Webb. “I guess that’s the irony in it, you know.”
There is no official word on whether or not yesterday morning’s events brought about this morning’s evacuation. Please continue to follow us today, as we will keep you posted with up-to-the-minute coverage.