Video: Students Evacuated After Small Dorm Fire at Mississippi State

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – A dorm fire at Mississippi State University Sunday night left hundreds of students outside for hours and without a place stay. Now the University is cleaning up the dorm hall and finding temporary housing for displaced students.

Students at MSU’s Oak Hall were evacuated Sunday night around eight after the fire alarm went off on the 3rd floor. Fire officials say a burning candle inside a dorm room ignited the small blaze. Water from the emergency sprinkler system caused much of the damage to student property.

“The carpet was really wet. Part of my desk and printer got wet but our room didn’t get that bad. I’m on the right side of my dorm room and the left side just seemed to get more soaked. I know there were girls that were walking in water,” says Catherine Welch, an Oak Hall resident.

Students in the affected part of the dormitory will have to live in temporary housing for now.

“I walked in and all my stuff was rearranged and piled into our bathroom. They told us that they’re setting us up in hotels until further notice,” says Oak Hall Resident Melissa Kearley.

Rebecca Keefer is President of the Oak Hall Core, a student-run group that coordinates dorm activities. After the fire, Keefer says now their plans will have to change.

“We’re probably going to focus more on fire safety, fire hazards. Stuff like that instead of what we were planning on doing earlier,” says Rebecca Keefer, President of Oak Hall Core, a student-run group that coordinates dorm activities.

While university officials continue to make arrangements for temporary housing, students say they’re counting their blessings that it wasn’t more serious and getting ready to celebrate another big football weekend.

“We’re still pumped to beat Auburn. We’re still going to go in and grab our cowbells and ring them proud on Saturday,” says Keefer.

About 200 students were affected by Sunday’s fire. MSU President Dr. Mark Keenum also spoke to students Sunday night as a part of the immediate response to the incident.

Meanwhile, Mississippi State administrators are meeting with students this afternoon [Oct. 6] to discuss accommodation options for those displaced by the Sunday evening [Oct. 5] fire in the Oak Hall residence hall.

The university is immediately beginning repairs to the four-story building, which in addition to sustaining fire and smoke damage, incurred extensive water damage from the triggering of the hall’s fire suppression system. Fire officials gave an all-clear for the fourth floor when they determined no damage occurred on that level, and women living on the fourth floor chose to remain in their own rooms after the fire was extinguished and the building was secured.

MSU President Mark E. Keenum will again be in attendance as Oak Hall students meet with MSU housing officials in order to listen to student concerns. Keenum first met with Oak Hall students after the fire on Sunday night.

No injuries were sustained in the fire which ignited on the third floor of Oak Hall, one of the university’s recently constructed halls that opened to students in 2012. Local fire officials said that a burning candle in a residential room apparently caused the fire, which was quickly contained by the building’s fire suppression system and responding fire units.

Only one wing of the two-wing residence hall was affected, and most of the displaced students will be able to return to their rooms before the weekend; however, about 30 double-occupancy rooms will require more extensive repairs and will remain unavailable to about 60 affected students for approximately a month, officials estimate.

Bill Broyles, interim vice president for student affairs, emphasized that there are enough on-campus beds available to immediately accommodate students who wish to remain in residence halls. However, he said the bedroom spaces available are in older halls that have not been recently renovated. Oak Hall is a premium residence hall, he noted.

Broyles said affected students also will have the option of early termination of their campus housing contracts if they choose to relocate to an apartment or sorority house space instead.

“We are trying to accommodate these students who are being inconvenienced through no fault of their own, and we have come up with three options that we believe will meet the variety of student needs and preferences,” Broyles said. “On campus housing is available to any student who prefers that option, although roommates may be temporarily separated. Hotel spaces are being secured by the university and we are providing transportation to and from the university through our shuttle system. We also will assist students who want to find off-campus apartments,” he added.

A Tuesday morning apartment fair will showcase properties which have partnered with the university and agree to offer affected students short-term leases from October through May.