Sawtooth Hall Fire and Flood FAQ

Around 4 p.m. on Thursday, March 11, a fire in a resident’s suite triggered the fire suppression system on the second floor of Sawtooth Hall. This system releases a significant amount of water by design, which impacted rooms on this floor and the one beneath it. The impact is isolated to these areas. Residents in these spaces have been safely evacuated and no one was injured during this incident.

No.

The fire was caused by a resident’s improper use of a microwave. The fire was not the product of any building system failures.

No. The fire was contained to the room in which it started and was extinguished when the fire suppression system activated.

A total of twelve rooms had significant amounts of water released into them by the fire suppression system. Twenty students have been relocated into alternative housing assignments as well as both Resident Directors for the building, whose apartments were also impacted.

We are working on permanent reassignments for the remainder of the semester and will be contacting impacted students soon with that information.

We have professional restoration teams working to dry out the areas that were saturated by water and ensure the safety of the area. We request you do not turn off or move any fans you see in common spaces as their constant use is important to the drying process.

All personal belongings not packed up the evening that this incident occurred will be carefully packed and cataloged. We realize that these items are important to you and we’ll be careful and respectful when moving them.

Please note that linens and electronics will be collected by our staff and we will attempt to restore them.

After packing and storing them for you, we’ll contact you with information about how to retrieve your items.

You will need to file a claim with your individual insurance companies for covered losses.