The Lumberjack

Issue date: 1/23/08 Section: Campus

Media Credit: Stephanie Haller

Media Credit: John C. Osborn

Media Credit: Stephanie Haller

Media Credit: Stephanie Haller Music students were evacuated from the surrounding buildings. Sophomore Ari Davie makes the best of the situation by playing "Taps" on Anwyn Halliday's (background) French Horn.

Media Credit: Stephanie Haller

Media Credit: John C. Osborn

Updated from its original version

The smell of smoke choked all who stood around the Music A building on campus today that was evacuated after a fire blazed inside, injuring no one.

As if a fire wasn't enough, people reported a slow response time for firefighters, faulty fire alarms and a lack of sprinklers in a building full of musical instruments, not to mention future class disruption.

Reports point to a locked custodial closet near the men's bathroom as being the place where the fire started. The cause of the fire is unknown as of deadline.

As for who pulled the fire alarm first, reports are scattered at best.

University Spokesperson Paul Mann said he was told that faculty pulled the alarm and evacuated the building when they noticed smoke coming from the closet.

But Associate Music Professor Brian Post said he tried twice to pull on a fire alarm in the building - neither time worked - before warning everyone in the building.

Then there was Industrial Technology sophomore Ricardo Cedillo, who had class in the building when the fire first started. He said he pulled the alarm when the class evacuated.

"I was in class and it smelt like wood was burning," Cedillo said, adding that there were no sprinklers on when he left.

Mann said the building does not have sprinklers and is not required by fire code.

The University Police Department found out about the fire around 1:30 p.m. and responded right away, said Police Chief Tom Dewey. People watching the fire pegged the time it took for firefighters to arrive at 10 to 20 minutes.

As Interim Music Department Chair Eugene Novotney watched the building burn, he criticized how hard it is to get to the building.

"It took far too long for [the fire department] to get here," he said. "The problem is inaccessibility to the building."

He wasn't the only one who wondered why it took so long for the fire trucks to come.

"Everyone's really surprised it took [the firefighters] so long," said Music junior Rebekah Downey.

Assistant Arcata Fire Chief Desmond Cowan said the first engines arrived four minutes after the fire alarm started, despite the music building's location.

"When somebody is looking at a fire, time for them stands still," he said. "There's an entirely different perception."

There is no time frame to how long it will take to find out the damages from the fire, Mann said.

"It takes time to go through an entire building and all its contents," he said. "The building's going to be closed for some time."

For students with classes in the building, the university will be posting class re-assignments at www.humboldt.edu, on the front page.

A group of music students gathered on the Art Quad, watching the smoke rise and the firefighters scramble about. They also stood ready to support Novotney.

Novotney's office, near the custodial closet where the fire started, housed tens-of-thousands of dollars in music instruments. The threat of a water heater under pressure stopped the students and professor from getting the instruments.

Music junior John Thomas, who was in the building when the fire started, said, "I'm waiting just in case Eugene needs help getting stuff out of his office."

Stephanie Haller contributed to this article

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