Fellow residents assisted a 19-year-old male student escape from his burning bed after a fire broke out around 9:52 p.m. Friday in 427 Bridgman Hall, according to an Eau Claire Fire Department report.
The police have not released any names. The two residents of Room 427 are freshmen Nick Landauer and Mike Sabaka.
Sabaka and Landauer were not available for comment over the weekend. Sabaka’s mother, who identified herself over the phone Sunday, said he was home with third-degree burns. She declined further comment, as did Landauer’s parents.
Junior Andy Wagner, a Bridgman Hall resident, said he and his roommate, junior Jeff Larson, saw Sabaka leave the hall last as residents evacuated the building.
“Eventually we saw Mikey, the one that was in the (427) room, come out,” Wagner said. “He was the last one out.”
The fire victim’s roommate was not present at the time of the fire, Housing Director Chuck Major said.
Altoona Fire Department fire inspector Gary Puljas said the student involved was taken to Sacred Heart Hospital and released that same night.
Due to the time of the fire, none of the Eau Claire Fire Department’s fire inspectors were on duty, so the Altoona Fire Department inspectors were called to the scene to assist.
The cause of the fire, which caused an estimated $10,000 in damage to the room and contents, is still under investigation, Battalion Chief Rick Merryfield said.
Residents of the hall noticed a thick smoke coming from Room 427, according to the report.
One of the students knew the combination and opened the door to find the mattress on fire with the student asleep on top of the bed, Merryfield said.
The report stated the residents helped him out of the building, while others extinguished the fire.
Residents of Bridgman were allowed back in the building around 11:30 p.m.
As Wagner and Larson watched TV in their room, they knew something was wrong when they heard a loud group of footsteps outside their door and could smell a strong scent of smoke, Wagner said.
“Sometimes people burn popcorn (but the scent) was much stronger than that,” he said. “Something was going on.”
When Wagner and Larson left their room, Larson said he noticed the fire alarm was pulled and the smoke scent was stronger.
Major examined the room after the fire and said the chemicals in the fire extinguisher caused most of the damage.
A commercial company that specializes in fire damage cleanup will do an assessment today.
Both Sabaka and Landauer will have the option of returning to their room or staying in a different one on campus for the remainder of the semester, Major said.
If malfunctioning campus equipment causes damage, then the university’s insurance would pay for it, Major said. However, Major said he does not believe that is the case, and the students’ homeowners’ or renters’ insurance would most likely cover the cost, he said.
“We’ve probably had about two to three similar (fires) like this where it’s been a fire contained in a particular room,” Major said. “It’s definitely not the first time, but we certainly don’t have very many of them.”