February 10, 2003

Fire damages Porter dorm room, displaces students

By Jim Burns

Started by an unattended candle, a fire burned portions of a Porter College dormitory room on Wednesday, February 5, forcing four students to temporarily move to other on-campus housing.

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ABOVE: Earlier, flames could be seen coming out of the fourth-floor dorm window (below red arrow). The first floor is below ground level. BELOW: The fire was contained to this room; most of the damage occurred in the corner with the bed. Photos: Jim Burns

No one was injured in the blaze, which broke out shortly after noon in a fourth-floor room in the south wing of Porter's B Dormitory. Neither of the two women who occupied the room, both freshmen, were in their room at the time. Porter was able to find space for the four displaced students in the same dorm, reported Todd Bowser, associate college administrative officer.

Personnel from UCSC's Fire Department responded to the scene and extinguished the fire within 15 minutes. Crews from the city of Santa Cruz, Central Fire Department, and Aptos Fire Department also responded to the call.

Initially, college staff feared that many more students in nearby rooms would be displaced by water discharged by automatic fire sprinklers. "The damage turned out to be less than we expected," Bowser said. Using "wet vacs," heaters, and fans, campus staff were able to get most of the nearby residents back in their rooms the evening of the fire. "There also was less damage to students' personal property than we originally expected," Bowser said.

Bowser said the four students moved back into their own rooms on Friday.

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