Student disciplined for setting gym fires
Campus security and local police responded to two small fires in the old gym at the Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse Aug. 28 that resulted in the discipline of one student.
At approximately 8:30 p.m. that night, students involved in Sting Swing reported the first of two fires to campus security before another fire was discovered about 40 minutes later, according to the campus’ head of security.
“We got a call from a student stating there was a fire in a garbage can located directly outside the old gym,” said Mike Humiston, director of the Department of Public Safety. “Security responded and put out that fire. Shortly after, a second fire in a women’s restroom garbage can was discovered.”
Humiston said the fires appeared similar in nature and in the way they were set, and that each fire was extinguished in a timely manner.
“The local fire department was not called,” said Humiston. “With water and extinguishers, we were able to put the fires out on our own.”
Borough police arrived on the scene after hearing about the first fire over a scanner. Humiston said members of campus security worked together with local police to evacuate students from the building.
No injuries were reported, according to Humiston, and only the trash receptacles that contained the fire were damaged. In addition, campus security officers spoke with students who were present at the time of the incident in order to determine who started the fires.
“During the investigation, we were able to locate the student responsible and held that person accountable,” said Humiston, who added that his department did not play a role into the actual disciplining of the student after filing an incident report.
Chris Hardie, assistant dean of Student Services, could not disclose the identity of the student believed to have started the fire or the details of the punishment received.
Faith Musko, instructor of forensic science, discovered the second fire when she went to throw empty pizza boxes away as students were leaving Sting Swing. She said she and others thought they smelled smoke at around 8:30 p.m., but Musko didn’t realize what had occurred until she noticed the garbage can in the lobby was missing and a pile of ashes lay in its place.
This prompted her to move to the women’s restroom, to dispose of the pizza boxes, where she spotted the second fire.
“Someone had taken three or four rolls of toilet paper, lit them on fire and stuck them in that garbage can,” said Musko.
Having a background in forensic science, specifically forensic toxicology, Musko realized that a small window in the restroom possibly saved her from injury when she opened the door to the restroom.
“If there’s a fire that has a lot of oxygen available to it, that allows the flame to grow larger and more intense in heat,” said Musko. “If you suddenly add more oxygen to the fire, the fire will move to the oxygen source.”
Musko said this phenomenon, known as flashover, may have occurred had the open window in the women’s restroom been larger. Instead, only smoke funneled through the door as she entered.
She added that two senior forensic science students are working with her to determine if an accelerant was used to start the fires.
Humiston hopes students realize that campus security’s goal is to protect the student body from potentially dangerous situations.
“It takes more than just security to combat criminal activity or anything that may occur on campus. If something appears out of place, students should notify security,” said Humiston. “In this case, that was extremely helpful.”