A microwave fire broke out on the third floor, room 309 of Jody Richards Hall, around 9:30 p.m. Monday.
Lauren Howe, a senior and video editor for Cherry Creative, part of Student Publications, was in JRH when the fire started.
“We were all working in lab 127 in Jody Richards, and then all of a sudden, we just hear the fire alarms going off, and we were deciding what to do,” Howe said. “I personally packed up all my stuff and then waited for them to do the same.”
Howe said when she walked out to the lobby, students were coming downstairs, who said there was smoke on the third floor.
Myah Griffin, a junior and photo editor for Cherry Creative, said she was sitting with Howe when the fire started.
“At first we thought it was fake, so we kind of just sat around because nothing was happening,” Griffin said. “We went outside and we didn’t see anybody coming to help.”
Griffin and Howe said it took at least five minutes for emergency vehicles to arrive on the scene.
“It was just one cop who showed up, and he just ran into the building,” Griffin said.
One fire engine and one ladder truck arrived on scene. Howe and Griffin counted around seven firefighters.
Griffin and Howe said the biggest struggle for first responders seemed to be propping the front doors open to vent the smoke.
“It smelled so bad, and it made me very lightheaded,” Griffin said. “I still have a headache from it.”
More than a dozen students were in JRH at the time of the fire. They were able to return to grab their belongings once the fire was extinguished, but were asked to leave afterward.
Hanna Kronfeld, junior and design editor for Cherry Creative, said she ran upstairs when she heard about the fire and saw thick smoke.
“I just wanted to know where the fire was at and I wanted to find it because I thought it was no big deal,” Kronfeld said. “It was a bigger deal than I thought it was going to be.”
The Herald reached out to WKUPD Chief Mitch Walker on Monday at 11:39 p.m. for a statement regarding the fire, but did not receive a response before publication.
