Fumes force Allen evacuation

Public Safety officers evacuated all residents of Allen Hall after an unknown person sprayed a fire extinguisher in one of the building’s hallways, allowing the release of hazardous fumes into the air, around 2 a.m. on Feb. 20.

Students could not enter the dorm until 8 a.m. because the fumes from the fire extinguisher continued to set off the fire alarm system and Facilities Services had to clean up the extensive damage to the hallway. Many spent the night on chairs and couches in the Chateau and some went to breakfast at Ross at 7 a.m. barefoot or in sleeping clothes.

Director of Public Safety Lisa Boudah said the fumes from the extinguisher could have posed health problems.

“The chemical remained in the hallways and clogged some of the detectors so the system couldn’t be reset without the help of Facilities Services,” she said. “The Facilities Services staff member on call responded and either cleaned or replaced detectors.”

Acting Commons Residential Advisor of Atwater Commons Claire Graves said an unknown resident sprayed a fire extinguisher in a second floor hallway of Allen Hall, which released dangerous fumes into the air.

“I instructed the residents to wait it out in Chateau rather than stand out in the cold, which they did,” she said. “Eventually, we realized this was going to take a while, so I suggested that the residents use their friends in other dorms for any free futons, beds or couches, rather than wait up aimlessly.”

In spite of those efforts, many residents elected to pass the evening in the Chateau.

“Many people went to Chateau, some to the Coffrin lounge, and some to the rooms of friends where they slept on the floor or a futon,” Alec Cooper ’13 said. “Some of us actually didn’t go back to sleep.”
Boudah said the extent of the damage forced Public Safety officers to call Facilities Services, preventing the dorm from opening sooner.

“The alarm system would not reset and smoke detectors needed to be cleaned or replaced,” she said. The chemical that was discharged needed to be cleaned so students could return safely to the building.”
Director of Facilities Services Norm Cushman said his department received a request for assistance at 2:30 a.m. and made extensive repairs.

“Fire alarm components were replaced and the main panel was reset,” he said. “Clean- up activities then followed.”

While the incident disrupted the evenings of Allen residents, Graves said most took the trouble in stride.

“I was incredibly impressed with their response,” she said. “They
were definitely bothered, but they took things in stride and cooperated when necessary. We sort of made the most out of the situation and turned it into a bonding experience and big joke.”

Though students retained their composure through the incident, some were dissatisfied with the College’s response.

“I would have thought that the college would have a plan for housing students in the event that a dorm needed to be evacuated,” Goodwin said. “Even more offensive was the fact that I never got an honest answer to when we would be allowed to re-enter Allen.  I am told that the cleanup crew did not even arrive until about 6 a.m., so I am appalled that I was told at 2, 3 and 4 a.m. that the dorm would be closed for at least an hour.”

First-year Counselor Catherine Lidstone ’10 also believes the response could have quicker, especially given the weather conditions.
“Why the custodians couldn’t be working on cleaning while the technician was fixing the issue is beyond me,” she said. “It was a poor use of time, especially on a winter night in Middlebury for a freshman dorm, who don’t have as many resources as upperclassmen do when it comes to finding other places to crash for the night.”

Earlier this year, a fire alarm in Ross Dining Hall forced the evacuation of the complex, in a similar incident. Graves expressed her desire for a more standard protocol to deal with emergencies in the future.

“It’s tough, because no one expects for a harmless fire alarm situation to displace more than 100 students for almost seven hours in the middle of the night, but I wouldn’t mind seeing some sort of protocol put in place in response,” she said. “It would have been great if our students had had somewhere to go. I absolutely understand that people did the most that they could under these circumstances, and we appreciated the help we did get, but clearly, a quicker response would have been best.”

Several students slept through the alarm and did not evacuate the building, Goodwin, Lidstone and Graves confirmed. Public Safety did not find those students when they swept the building, as is the standard practice.

“I did hear about one student sleeping through it the next day, and another one slept through the first 15 minutes of it,” Graves said.

“That’s impressive, and also a little frightening.”

Boudah said that Public Safety officers continue to investigate the incident.

“At this time we do not know who was responsible for the discharge,” she said. “Anyone with information about what occurred or who was responsible should contact Public Safety.”