University Police Captain Roger Pinac said that there will be no investigation into the cause of the fire that destroyed a UP vehicle last Friday morning. The Fire Department determined that the fire was an accident and decided not to investigate, Pinac said.

At 2:30 a.m., Biever Hall residents were evacuated. Flames from the vehicle, which was parked next to Biever on West Road, shot up along the side of the building.

“The flames must have been up to the third or fourth floor,” Greg Fontenot, finance freshman and Biever resident, said.

Despite the large flames, the fire was contained and the dormitory suffered minimal damage. According to Tim Albert, associate director of residential life, the damage to Biever is superficial.

“One of the nice things about Biever being mostly concrete and brick is that damage like that is minimal,” Albert said. “There are some areas that need to be cleaned and a few windows that need to be replaced. But there was no real lingering damage.”

Pinac said he could only speculate that the fire’s cause was electrical. He said that the remains of the vehicle were hauled away Tuesday afternoon to be sold as scrap metal.

The Rev. Kevin Wildes, S.J., university president and Biever resident, praised Residential Life for making sure everyone got out safely.

“I was concerned that the fire might spread to the building and concerned that we had everyone out,” Wildes said. “But the RAs and residence staff did a great job and cleared the building.”

Wildes stated that he was afraid that the number of false alarms in Biever would cause residents not to respond.

“I thought it was just another drill,” Fontenot said. “I took my time and finished shaving, and I brushed my teeth. I was probably the last person out of my hall.”

However, Fontenot discovered upon exiting the building that something was out of the ordinary.

“They were making us all go into the Freret Street Garage,” Fontenot said. “They never did that before.”

Fontenot added that shortly after he entered the parking garage, he heard a small banging noise, which drew a crowd toward the Tulane side of the building.

“I saw a bunch of smoke and flames,” Fontenot said. “The windows in Biever were completely black.”

Pinac said that the vehicle’s replacement is the decision of the insurance company and the administration.

With reporting by Gene Guillot

Chuck Alexander can be reached at [email protected].