Fire Damages Rutgers Dining Hall in New Jersey; No Injuries

Oct. 28, 2004
Today investigators may know what sparked that huge fire in a packed Rutgers University dining hall.

Video: Watch the StoryImages from the Scene

(New Brunswick, N.J.-WABC, October 28, 2004) -- Today investigators may know what sparked that huge fire in a packed Rutgers University dining hall.

Flames could be seen shooting out of a third floor window last night and crews worked into the morning to douse hot spots.

It happened around 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday night at the Brower Commons Building. It is believed that a can of sterno may have caused a curtain to catch on fire. Students thought it was a joke at first and many of them kept right on eating.

Some students smelled smoke before the alarm even sounded. But they stuck with their meals even when the fire alarm started buzzing. Kitchen workers came out to get the students moving and from that point things changed quickly.

Mark Schroeder, Rutgers Student: "I ran out as fast as I could. It was huge flames. I thought it was a drill. It was unbelievable. "

As fire-units raced onto the campus hundreds of students remained packed around the building. Many of them were taking pictures with their cell-phone cameras.

Dominique Lambert, Dining Hall Worker: "They told us that we had to get out. We still didn't see the flames until we got outside. It took awhile before flames come out of the building."

The fire started on the top floor of the building where a special event was being set-up. The three-alarm fire drew departments from New Brunswick, Edison, Franklin and North Brunswick.

Dep. Chief Robert Rawls, New Brunswick Fire Department: "We backed out of the fire and started an alternative attack to knock the fire down. Then they advanced the lines back inside and extinguished the fire."

The fire was out within an hour but parts of it flared up again after midnight and firefighters were back at it spraying down the scene.

The building suffered extensive damage from smoke and water. The dining hall remains closed this morning due to damage from the fire. Students can get their meals from other dining halls here on the Rutgers campus.

Meanwhile, no one was hurt in this fire.

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