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 Smith, 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 Amanda 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 Smith. "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."

Smith 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 Smith.

Currently, all three roommates have been relocated to separate buildings. Smith 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.
 

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