Fire evacuates Grawn Hall Tuesday

Dry mulch and woodchips in front Grawn Hall caught on fire Tuesday.

The source came from a discarded cigarette, said Officer Rich Clark, Mount Pleasant Fire Department.

“The fire was on the landscaping and someone pulled the alarm inside,” Clark said. “The first unit to show up on the scene used a dry chemical solution to put out the small fire.”

Lieutenant Steve Martin happened to be near Grawn Hall when the fire alarm was pulled.

The fire was small, he said, and there was no trouble putting it out.

No one was injured during the fire, though students were evacuated from Grawn Hall while firefighters disabled the fire alarm.

Jacolby Hardiman, a Wisconsin junior, said he was in a class that had a window view to the fire.

“I smelled something smoking and so did the teacher,” Hardiman said. “I thought my computer was catching on fire. Someone pulled the fire alarm and everyone left the building.”

Despite the dry air and rising temperatures, fires like this are not common, said Sgt. Rick Beltinck.

“Fires like these really don’t happen often. But, mulch is dry and people need to be careful where the discard their ignition sources,” Beltinck said.

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