A fire broke out on the third floor of Bates Residence Hall in the Quadrangle on Friday.
According to an e-mail sent out by UH Vice President of Student Affairs Elwyn Lee, the fire was caused by a hotplate that fell onto some clothes. Dorm residents are prohibited from having hotplates in their rooms.
Business sophomore Medrick Rainbow, a resident at Bates Hall, said he didn’t think much of the alarm when it was set off.
‘I was taking a nap when the alarm went on,’ Rainbow said. ‘I thought it was a false alarm, so I stayed in.’
Rainbow said the fire alarm went off around 7 p.m. Students stood outside the dormitory until 10 p.m. wondering what was happening to their belongings.’
‘It lasted a few hours,’ Rainbow said. ‘I left; I thought it was more serious than it really was.’
Rainbow said residents were not given much information about what happened. Rainbow said he was told that the fire was started when someone left their heater on, and the person who started the fire was arrested.
Industrial design junior Meredith Tucker, also a resident at Bates Hall, said the fire began across the hall from her dormitory in room 318.
Tucker said she was not in her dorm when the fire began; instead, she found out about the fire from her roommate, who said that the fire began when popcorn was burned in someone’s microwave.
Tucker also said she had a hard time getting information about what was happening
‘They weren’t telling us what was going on,’ Tucker said. ‘I called the front office and forced them to tell me.’
Tucker said she has not been allowed into her room yet, but she was told to collect what she needed and that students whose dorm rooms were affected by the fire were being placed at the Calhoun Lofts.
According to reports, no students were hurt, but there was water damage from the sprinklers.
UH Police Department is not releasing information at this time. All current reports are preliminary.
