"Fire forces one resident out, others back into Fargo"

An Ellicott resident will be displaced and several stuck in water damaged and smoke-scented rooms after an electrical fire in a Fargo Quad dorm room Tuesday morning.

The fire tripped a smoke alarm at about 11:20 a.m., according to UB officials. Local fire companies responded, the Fargo Quad was evacuated, and the fire was extinguished soon after.

Dennis Black, vice president of Student Affairs, said the fire was fairly contained and UB has a system for coping with dorm fires that was in motion almost immediately, with the state fire marshal and contractors arriving on the scene to evaluate and assess damages and repair costs.

"The fire was generally contained to one room, but smoke and water damage is unavoidable," he said. "We lose one room, but there will be smoke damage on the tenth floor and water damage on the ninth floor, the floor below."

Most dorm residents were allowed back in their rooms by 2 p.m. As of Tuesday afternoon, Black said six or seven students would be relocated to the University Inn with the cost of repairs ranging from $10,000 to $25,000.

As of Tuesday night, according to the Fargo residents, the plans were changed. While the resident whose room burned, sophomore biomedical science major Bryan Sandler, will be moved to hotel housing while the room is restored, others on the floor were told to remain. Many students complained of a pervasive smoke smell on the tenth floor.

Sandler said he was told faulty wiring in an electrical conduit in his room caused the fire.

Black said UB pays for repairs to the building while most students' water- or smoke damaged belongings would be covered by their families' homeowner's insurance. He said UB would only pay for damaged personal items if UB were at fault.

"We pay for what we break," he said.

Ninth and tenth floor Fargo residents, while relieved the fire was handled safely, experienced mixed feelings about remaining on the floor.

"I felt the crisis was handled pretty good, the university got me into the hotels and gave me the basic necessities for the next few days. I can't think of anything else I'd want them to help me with," Sandler said, who lost clothing and books to the fire.

Michael Bartnick, a junior business administration major, is a tenth floor Fargo resident affected by the fire. He was first told to leave the building and not to come back for several hours due to smoke and the health hazards of cleaning, but later was told to spend the night in his room as if nothing had happened. He decided not to.

"The sign on the tenth floor about the cleaning stuff kind of scared me," he said.

"I'm not staying there tonight because it smells so bad. I'm staying in my girlfriend's room. I don't think anyone else is staying there either."

Judy Wong lives in the ninth floor room located directly below the location of the fire and is the only person who experienced water damage. She said she was fortunate the fire was not worse.

"It was weird because I was the only one in the hallway (who was affected). My books and notes were the only things that got ruined," she said. "They got everyone out to where they needed to go by the end."