Mold contributes to fire incident in Bushnell

[Guest guest]

Mold contributes to fire incident in Bushnell

By: Martorana

Issue date: 1/26/06 Section: News

Keene,NH

http://www.keeneequinox.com/media/paper537/news/2006/01/26/News/Mold-

Contributes.To.Fire.Incident.In.Bushnell-1504777.shtml?

norewrite & sourcedomain=www.keeneequinox.com

A bathroom light fixture erupted into flames in Bushnell apartment

216 on Sunday night, Jan. 22. It was said that mold infestations may

have contributed to the incident.

The three students who live in Bushnell apartment 216 are Adam

Marcoux, junior class vice president, junior Josh , and

sophomore Marc Pellerin.

" I was watching a movie when I heard a pop in the bathroom, " said

Marcoux. " The light fixture was on fire. I called Campus Safety and

told them what happened and they said they would be right over. "

Campus Safety came over to the apartment and assisted the fire

department. " They (all the roommates) were evacuated, " said

Warman, director of Campus Safety. " The fire department was called

in to investigate the problem. "

The ceiling fan in the bathroom was on for most of the day to dry up

the moist conditions on the ceiling and the corners of the walls.

The roommates were told by Residential Life to keep the fan on to

dry up the ceiling which was infested with mold.

" We have been having mold problems with our bathroom ceiling, " said

. " The ceiling was dripping. We asked {Residential Life} for a

dehumidifier. They would only provide us with a commercial fan. "

Pellerin said he took pictures of the ceiling and the room where the

mold drippings were covered up by plaster.

Marcoux said that Residential Life has been very helpful.

Residential Life was responsible for painting the bathroom twice.

" Residential Life has been very helpful. Three, four, five times

Residential Life has been notified to clean, " said Marcoux. " Two

times it was painted with some mold proof paint, but the mold is

back now. "

added that the whole situation could have been avoided, but

the issue was not given nearly enough attention.

" It could have been avoided because obviously a fan isn't supposed

to dehumidify a room, " said .

Currently, all three roommates have been relocated to separate

buildings. said Residential life told them the wait could be

as long as Friday, Jan. 27 before they are cleared to move back in.

This is not the first time mold has been discovered in a residence

hall. During the fall 2005 semester, mold was discovered in an Owls

Nest 3 apartment.

Judy Raper, director of Residential Life and Jim Carley, associate

director of Residential Life refused comment for this report.