Scott BresslerResidents of Millbrook 2 evacuated the building early Saturday afternoon to the sounds of fire alarms and the smell of smoke after a grease fire broke out in an apartment kitchen on the first floor.
Millbrook RCD Ozie Goodwin was cooking French fries on the stove and left it unattended when Rosedale RA Ben Pasquier arrived to show Goodwin some locking mechanisms on the doors. Goodwin and Pasquier returned to the room to discover that the master key would not unlock Goodwin’s door and the two went to the Village for a key. Goodwin sent Pasquier back to check on the stove and he arrived to find the fire alarms sounding.
“By the time I was over there police officers were in the building and fire fighters were arriving,” said Pasquier. “The turnaround time for firefighters to arrive was impressively quick.”
Students left the building as smoke plumed out of the first story window. Fire trucks and police arrived on the scene and broke out windows, spraying down the entire area with hoses.
“My initial thought was that it was a false alarm,” said senior Rachel Bock, a Millbrook resident. “I grabbed my laptop and everyone exited the building and waited around thinking nothing was going on, but then we saw the smoke.”
Students barbequing outside of Millbrook watched the scene unfold.
“It took a couple of minutes before people actually got out,” said junior Keith Black. “We were already planning on having the barbeque and then it turned into a party.”
Associate Director of Residential Life Jill Stratton walked through the building to check for damage.
“Our main goal is to make sure everyone is OK and our second goal is to make sure everyone is comfortable and this all gets cleaned up,” said Stratton. “We want to be as accommodating as possible and we’re grateful no one is hurt.”
The overall damage outside of Goodwin’s apartment is slight.
“It’s very minimal damage if you consider the building as a whole,” said Diann Straatmann, battalion chief of Clayton Fire.
Clayton Fire checked alarms in all the rooms because, according to Straatmann, “Fire protection in the building has to be operational from us.”
Students were escorted into the building to collect some of their belongings, as they were not allowed to return to their apartments for the night. Residents of Millbrook were booked into the Knight Center to spend the night. Second and third floor residents had to check out at noon on Sunday.
While the University prioritized safety and security, not all students felt particularly assisted. Senior Danielle Roth went to work at 4 p.m. after being told that students would be informed of developments as they occurred. She returned home at 2 a.m. to a security guard stationed outside the building, who sent her to the Knight Center. Upon arrival she was informed that there was no room for her. She says she received little information and was unable to reach anyone from the University.
“I’m really pissed because no one from the University was available. It’s unnerving. Someone should have been there or I should have been contacted via cell phone so I could make arrangements,” said Roth.
Roth spent the night at an acquaintance’s apartment and was finally called at 4 a.m. informing her of room at the Cheshire Inn, but with no other information.
Around 5:30 p.m. Sunday, second and third floor residents were allowed to return to their rooms and spend the night. First floor residents are still not allowed to spend the night in their apartments. First floor residents are also being advised to throw out food and medicines due to potential smoke damage.
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– additional reporting by Laura Geggel