Biever Hall residents bracing for yet another fire drill may have been surprised to find a University Police vehicle in flames just outside of their dormitory early this morning. 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 very superficial.
“One of the nice things about Biever being mostly concrete and brick is that damage like that is minimal,” Albert said. “There’s some areas that need to be cleaned and a few windows that need to be replaced. But there was no real lingering damage.” Students were evacuated from the dorm early this morning around 2:30 a.m. According to Albert, no one reported any problems and no residents were hurt.
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.”
The incident is the second evacuation of Biever residents in the past week. Last Sunday, several students received phone calls via an automated messaging service informing them that there was a bomb in the residence hall. When the students informed their RA, Residential Life notified University Police, who brought in the New Orleans Police Department to inspect the building.
While the number of false alarms may negatively affect reaction time in the event of real emergencies, Albert said it was always better to err on the side of caution.
“It’s always better to treat it as a true emergency,” Albert said. “It’s better to get everyone out of the way.”
Lola Thelin and Naomi King contributed to this report.
Chuck Alexander can be reached at [email protected].
