More than 90 emergency personnel responded to a two-alarm fire in Ellington Hall on the University of Memphis main campus, Tuesday around 10:47 p.m.
The fire was under control in about an hour, said Lt. Wayne Cooke, public information officer at the Memphis Fire Department.
No firefighters or pedestrians were injured, he said.
The fire appeared to be electrical malfunction and started in room 217, an office and laboratory, Cooke said.
“There was an electrical box with four receptacles in it on top of a desk,” Cooke said “That is what we are determining the cause of the fire. It appeared to be some sort of malfunction in that box.”
Six fire trucks and several other emergency vehicles filled Walker Avenue. Students from the Living Learning Complex and The Gather watched as firefighters rushed into the building.
Eli Ronai, junior at the U of M, was among those watching as water dripped from the second floor of the building.
“It’s an ocean of red and blue lights,” said Ronai, while standing on the sidewalk looking at Ellington Hall. “I came out when I saw them. It smells like something is burning”
The smell of smoke lingered in Ellington, Wednesday, as classes continued in the biology building.
Damage was contained to the one room according to Zachary L. Ramsey, administrative secretary for the Department of Biological Sciences.
“The fire was just on one table,” Ramsey said. “The damage is mostly soot.”
Damage to the office door seems to indicate that firefighters had to break into the room.
Many of the walls in the office were covered in soot. Books and other papers in the room appeared not to be burnt. A desk with melted electrical equipment was still in there.
There have been at least eight reported fires in student residence halls during the last three years, according to the most recent Annual Security and Fire Safety Report.
Although responsive thus far, students at the University of Memphis believe firefighters are becoming irritated with the constant alarms too.
