January, 23, 2000
Dorm fire-no injuries
By Jefferson Wolfe
Staff Writer
Between 80-90 firefighters from 13 departments were called to an early Saturday morning fire that severely damaged a Heidelberg College residence hall.
A 911 call reported the fire at 4:08 a.m. in Heidelberg's Williard Hall, which housed 63 students.
Fire investigators were investigating the remains of the burned out attic and roof all day Saturday, and will continue. A cause is not expected to be isolated for some time.
"Easily a week or so," Tiffin Fire Chief William Ennis said.
Jamie Abel, director of college relations, said all the students were accounted for by mid-morning Saturday, and none were injured.
Abel said, initially, there were two students who were not accounted for, but they had gone off campus and were contacted.
Heidelberg President Richard Owens thanked the fire departments, police department, the sheriff's office and the Heidelberg staff. He said the students and staff pulled together in the crisis and stayed together as a family.
There were no serious injuries to the firefighters, although Ennis said there were some minor injuries to some firefighters involved in the initial fire attack.
"The first arriving units found fire through the roof," Ennis said. They entered and made sure the building had been evacuated and started fighting the fire.
After Tiffin's initial response, a total of 13 other departments were called, including: Attica, Bettsville, Bloomville, Green Springs, Kansas, McCutchenville, New Riegel, Sycamore, Bascom, Clinton Township, Republic, Old Fort and Fostoria. Ballville Township was called to stand by on the north side of the county, Dan Stahl, Seneca County EMS director, said.
Initially, Republic and Old Fort were called to stand by at Tiffin's station, he said, but manpower was needed at the scene, Stahl said. Those two departments left, and McCutchenville and Green Springs replaced them at the Tiffin station.
"Between the manpower and the equipment, every department in the county is involved," he said.
There was a minimal activation of the county's Emergency Management Center, mainly to take some of the communication and coordination load off the Tiffin dispatchers, Stahl said.
The fire was contained by about 8 a.m., and was declared extinguished shortly before 10:30 a.m.
Ennis said two or three rooms on the third floor were heavily damaged by fire, as was the attic and the roof. The other rooms in the building were damaged by water and smoke, he said.
The students were not able to return to their rooms, except to retrieve absolute essentials like glasses and car keys, Abel said. Students will not be able to go into the building to recover their personal effects until the investigation is complete.
The students will be given other housing, because there is room available in recently-renovated Kreig Hall, and other Heidelberg buildings.
"All the students will be assigned and housed as of today," John Saddlemire, the vice-president for student affairs said. Saturday night's basketball game was to happen as scheduled, and classes are to resume Monday, he said.
The Red Cross was at Heidelberg Saturday, giving students vouchers to purchase a small amount of basic clothing.
"Everybody's wanting socks," Deborah Hale, disaster coordinator for the Seneca County Red Cross said. Many students left their rooms wearing only shoes or slippers.
Heidelberg College and the Seneca County Sheriff's Office provided vans for the students to go to local stores to get what they needed.
Red Cross workers operated out of a nearby building, interviewing students and providing services. Though the Red Cross typically provides a canteen service for firefighters, an adjacent dining hall provided food and drinks.
Williard Hall was built in the early 1900s, and is on Ohio's list of historic landmarks. It was renovated in 1993, to include the installation of a fire alarm and sprinkler system, Abel said. Both worked perfectly, he said.
Other organizations and individuals came forward to offer help, Abel said, including: The United Church of Christ, Heidelberg alumni, Tiffin University, Ohio Northern University and others.
Whether the hall can be re-built has not been determined. For now, the building is safe for firefighters to conduct the investigation, but how severe the structural damage is remains to be seen, Ennis said.
"An engineer will have to determine if the building can be re-built," he said.
Tiffin firefighters had trained for almost exactly the situation that happened Saturday. They have used other Heidelberg buildings, when empty, to prepare for an attic fire, which Ennis said was the worst-case scenario, Ennis said.
In the attics of Williard Hall and similar buildings, there are no sprinklers, he said.
The training even included the possibility that the fire would happen late at night or early in the morning.
Ennis said everything at the scene went like clockwork, just as it had been practiced.