A fire broke out at 3:31 a.m. on Thursday, Mar. 13, in Michigan Tech’s Electrical Energy Resources Center (EERC), triggering the sprinkler system and prompting a public safety response. This fire occurred in a lab run by Blue Marble Security, a student-led enterprise at MTU. The enterprise did not make public comments about the fire.
According to Chief of Police Brian Cadwell, the lab was locked and unoccupied when the fire occurred. An officer immediately responded and discovered a smoke-filled room on the sixth floor with visible flames. “He saw flames in a chair under a desk,” Cadwell said. “He went out to his car, got the fire extinguisher, and put it out.”
The fire department responded within minutes to ensure that the area was safe. Cleanup began soon after, as the water and smoke left their imprint on the lab and surrounding areas.
“The water came out of room 637 and went out into the hallway,” Cadwell said, “Some of the water made it down to the elevator shaft.” As a result, the sixth, fifth, and fourth floors of the EERC were temporarily closed for cleanup and safety assessment.
Cadwell mentioned that the fire was caused by malfunctioning equipment that overheated and fell into the seat of a desk chair, starting the fire. “This was a fluke event,” he said, “Environmental Health and Safety has looked into things to make sure protocols are being followed.”
While Cadwell praised the fire safety system for functioning as designed, he raised serious concerns about students disregarding evacuation protocols. “When the officer got to the building, the alarm was going off. There were people still in the building who weren’t leaving,” he said. “It’s important that when the fire alarm goes off, people evacuate the building.”
Students may read the Emergency Action and Fire Prevention plan provided by EHS on the Michigan Tech website for detailed fire safety instructions and evacuation procedures.
