Smoke from a fire that was sparked in a malfunctioning sander billowed through the basement of the Center For the Arts Monday afternoon, temporarily disrupting classes and other activities.
According to University Police Lieutenant Dave Frank, the fire in room B15 - a woodshop lab - was caused by sawdust caught in the blade of the sander.
The sawdust created a considerable amount of smoldering and smoking that made it difficult to determine why the machine was spouting smoke, according to Frank.
"The biggest problem was that we didn't know where the fire was coming from," Frank said.
According to Director of Public Safety John Grela, someone smelled smoke and pulled a fire alarm around 2 p.m.
"A student found the fire and alerted me about smoke coming out of the dust collection," said Chris Siano, sculpture technician. "I called 2222 immediately."
"It was quick action by everybody," said Al Swavy, assistant director of environmental health and safety.
Mary Stock, a freshman art major, was in a Construct Body class in the room when the fire started.
"I was working on my woodshop piece and had headphones on when I saw people leaving the room," said Stock. "They said there was a fire in the building and everyone had to get out."
Once the area was cleared of students and faculty, the still-smoking sander was brought outside of the building. Siano struck the front of the malfunctioning piece of machinery with a steel rod, causing the sander to open up. Inside, flames rose from a pile of sawdust in the machine.
"Someone was probably sanding a block and a spark kicked, and there was just enough dust to smolder into a fire," said Siano.
Howard Wharton, fire safety technician, Siano and Swavy doused the flames with a fire extinguisher.
Wharton said this fire was the first of its kind he had witnessed in the CFA.
"I've been here for 17 years, and not once has this happened before," he said.
No damage estimates have been released yet.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
