Fires plague residence hall floor
By Gary Wulf
Assistant News Editor
North Campus is noted for its quiet, studious environment. The last two days the silence has been broken by fires.On Tuesday evening, a bulletin board on the East side of the second floor at Holmes Hall was set on fire. The next morning janitors in Holmes Hall took down the burned bulletin board.At 1:58 p.m yesterday, the Lexington Fire Department was called to Holmes Hall to extinguish another bulletin board fire on the second floor. This time the fire occurred on the West side of the floor.
Major Karl Poindexter of the Lexington Fire Department said the fire was not huge, but had the potential to spread to other parts of the floor.
"I don't know what the thrill is. If they want to see a fire truck they can come down to the station," Poindexter said.
Poindexter said some of the department personnel have said this year has been more active than previous years.
Though the fire only burned 20 percent of the bulletin board, UK Fire Marshall Garry Beach has requested that all the boards in the building be removed from the walls. He also asked that residents remove any signs from the walls.
Beach said the fact that fires have occurred on North Campus is surprising.
"In fact, three or four years ago we had a similar type of incident on South Campus, but overall things have been very good," Beach said.
Director of Residence Life Jim Wims said he is very concerned about student safety in regard to the fires.
"As far as I'm concerned we're taking a zero tolerance approach," Wims said.
Wims explained that at the very minimum, the guilty individual would have his residence hall contract cancelled. The arsonist would then be disciplined by the Dean of Students office.
Most importantly, the individual would face criminal charges.
"In my 20 plus years I've been in housing, I've not seen this many incidents in such a fairly condensed period of time," Wims said. He said he was disappointed that no one has come forward with information. "I think there is that group of students that would come forward if they knew it because they're frustrated and then there is another group of students who have information but are reluctant to share the information for whatever reason," he said.
Holmes Hall residents are upset about the disruptions in their hall.
"I'm upset that I have to sit outside in the cold all the time and people are so childish they have to get their kicks in college," said integrated strategic communications freshman Robert Horine.
Business freshman Shawn Wimberly offered a different perspective.
"They wouldn't burn their own home down, so evidently they don't feel at home. Maybe it's the curfews they have with the opposite sex," Wimberly said.
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