Carmichael rooms sprayed with water, residents' belongings damaged

The second floor of Carmichael Hall was flooded Tuesday night when a stray ball hit a sprinkler as two students played catch, starting a flow of water that soaked most of the floor.

Tufts University Police Department (TUPD) responded just before midnight to the fire alarm that was set off. Although all sprinklers in the hallway are caged, the blow from the ball was strong enough to dislodge the fixture, TUPD Sergeant Doug Mazzola said.

The fire doors, which divide sections of the floor and shut off stairways between floors, immediately shut when the system was engaged. Some water still managed to spread throughout most of the second floor, work its way down the stairways, and leak through the floor into first floor rooms.

Rooms from the 120s to the 240s in Carmichael sustained damages, as well as the lobby and dining areas, according to a TUPD report. A total property damage estimate has not been released.

The dorm was evacuated, and residents were kept outside for about half an hour. Some residents of affected first and second floor rooms were allowed to return to their dorm rooms nearly an hour after being evacuated, but even then, many were only allowed to retrieve clothes and were offered alternative housing options for the night, hall residents said.

All students have now been allowed to return to their rooms.

For some residents, the flood's affects will linger beyond the cold they endured while waiting outside. Many students, such as sophomore Lexi Schuman, found their belongings soaked. "I got back to my room and it was flooded," she said. "A lot of my books were ruined, which is especially bad now because of finals and everything."

Schuman said, the computers and other electronic equipment in her room were unharmed.

But other students were not so lucky: furniture and equipment in freshman Jared Fronk's room were damaged when water leaked through the ceiling of his first floor room. "It completely soaked my bed, everything under it, and my roommate's computer screen, mouse, keyboard, everything," Fronk said. "On the floor, our rug must have soaked up about a gallon of water."

"We spent all night drying and cleaning everything," Fronk said.

The University has not yet determined how it will reimburse students for the damages, Mazzola said.

The student responsible for knocking off the sprinkler immediately explained the occurrence to TUPD officers. The Medford Fire Department came to shut off the water flow from the main sprinklers to the second floor.

A Facilities department plumber later replaced the sprinkler head and reopened the valve, Mazzola said, and a University electrician ran safety checks in the dorm. Facilities was unavailable for comment.

OneSource, Tufts' janitorial service company, helped with cleanup in the residence hall throughout the night. Fans and water vacuums were used to speed the drying process.

Second floor Residential Assistant (RA) Gabe Koehhler-Derrick was pleased with the response to the incident. "The damage could have been a lot worse, but everything turned out alright in the end," he said. "OneSource worked really hard and everyone was able to find a place to sleep without a problem."