2008 Woodie Awards
Sprinkler Damages Jeffery
Michelle Silberstein
Issue date: 12/10/03 Section: News
At 4:10 am on Friday, November 21, 2003, residents of Heubeck Hall were unexpectedly woken by fire alarms. Students flooded out into the cold night, convinced that they were taking part in a cruel drill.
In actuality, a sprinkler head in a room on the second floor of Jeffery had broken, releasing 30 gallons of water a minute into the room. The resident of the room notified her RA, Jocelyn Heath '04, immediately of the situation. Heath, in turn, called campus security, which was already en route to the room, having received information about the source and nature of the alarm from a LED readout in the office.
Veto Mentzell, Director of Campus Safety and Security, was also called as security tried to block the broken sprinkler head. Mentzell instructed officers to contact Dave Myers, the EEMC technician for FMS. Myers was able to talk officers through shutting off the water system for Heubeck, located in a miniature physical plant in the bowls of the building. Although the water was shut off at 4:45 am, the alarms continued to sound due to an electrical short caused by the flooding. Heubeck residents were encouraged to retreat to the chapel, empty house commons, and friends' rooms for the rest of the night. Engineers from BFPE, the company which manages the fire alarm system, were brought in to manually disarm the system, and the campus was silent by 7:30 am.
In the morning, it was determined that the first and second floors of Jeffery had to be vacated in order for FMS to assess and repair damage from the flood. Dean of Students Gail Edmonds sent an email to the campus saying that she had "notified faculty that Heubeck residents may have to miss class [today] and may need to turn in assignments late."
The Office of Residence Life was quick to make reservations for the 40-some residents at the Towson Sheraton, although many were upset over having to leave. Students spent all of Friday packing up their rooms. Residence Life provided boxes and opened both summer storage and Heubeck Multi-Purpose room to house students' belongings, causing events slated to be held in Heubeck through the following week to be relocated. According to MaryAnn Nation, Assistant Director of Residence Life, Jeffrey residents were told that they would be able to move back onto campus December 7; however, due to the exhaustive work of FMS and housekeeping over the Thanksgiving holiday, the residence hall was ready to welcome back students on December 2.
"We brought people's boxes back to their rooms," said Nation, "so all they have to do is unpack." Students were told to take their time moving back as to not further disrupt their studies, but a booking conflict at the Sheraton forced Goucher students out of the hotel on December 4. "Students were naturally upset about by situation," Nation said, "but we thank them for their patience and cooperation."
In actuality, a sprinkler head in a room on the second floor of Jeffery had broken, releasing 30 gallons of water a minute into the room. The resident of the room notified her RA, Jocelyn Heath '04, immediately of the situation. Heath, in turn, called campus security, which was already en route to the room, having received information about the source and nature of the alarm from a LED readout in the office.
Veto Mentzell, Director of Campus Safety and Security, was also called as security tried to block the broken sprinkler head. Mentzell instructed officers to contact Dave Myers, the EEMC technician for FMS. Myers was able to talk officers through shutting off the water system for Heubeck, located in a miniature physical plant in the bowls of the building. Although the water was shut off at 4:45 am, the alarms continued to sound due to an electrical short caused by the flooding. Heubeck residents were encouraged to retreat to the chapel, empty house commons, and friends' rooms for the rest of the night. Engineers from BFPE, the company which manages the fire alarm system, were brought in to manually disarm the system, and the campus was silent by 7:30 am.
In the morning, it was determined that the first and second floors of Jeffery had to be vacated in order for FMS to assess and repair damage from the flood. Dean of Students Gail Edmonds sent an email to the campus saying that she had "notified faculty that Heubeck residents may have to miss class [today] and may need to turn in assignments late."
The Office of Residence Life was quick to make reservations for the 40-some residents at the Towson Sheraton, although many were upset over having to leave. Students spent all of Friday packing up their rooms. Residence Life provided boxes and opened both summer storage and Heubeck Multi-Purpose room to house students' belongings, causing events slated to be held in Heubeck through the following week to be relocated. According to MaryAnn Nation, Assistant Director of Residence Life, Jeffrey residents were told that they would be able to move back onto campus December 7; however, due to the exhaustive work of FMS and housekeeping over the Thanksgiving holiday, the residence hall was ready to welcome back students on December 2.
"We brought people's boxes back to their rooms," said Nation, "so all they have to do is unpack." Students were told to take their time moving back as to not further disrupt their studies, but a booking conflict at the Sheraton forced Goucher students out of the hotel on December 4. "Students were naturally upset about by situation," Nation said, "but we thank them for their patience and cooperation."