Contact: Allison Matthews
(Right) MSU President Mark E. Keenum spoke with students at Oak Hall Sunday night as part of the university's immediate response to make accommodations for affected students.
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Mississippi State administrators are working today [Oct. 6] to ensure that 198 female students displaced by a Sunday night [Oct. 5] fire in a freshman residence hall are smoothly transitioning into housing accommodations and are receiving temporary academic allowances.
No injuries were sustained in the fire which occurred on the third floor of Oak Hall, one of the university's recently constructed halls that opened to students in 2012. Local fire officials said that a burning candle in a residential room apparently caused the fire, which was quickly contained by the building's fire suppression system and responding fire units.
Fire officials arrived at the scene at 8:07 p.m. after the alarm sounded at 8 p.m. Bill Broyles, interim vice president for student affairs, said that in addition to fire and smoke damage, the four-story building incurred extensive water damage from the triggering of the hall's fire suppression system, which engaged and operated according to its design. Oak Hall includes two wings, and only one wing was affected.
MSU President Mark E. Keenum met with student residents at Oak Hall Sunday night.
"We're actively engaged in doing everything possible to help these students deal with this very stressful event," Keenum said.
MSU Director of Procurement and Contracts Don Buffum immediately secured a number of rooms at Starkville's La Quinta Inn, located in close proximity to the university on Hwy. 12 East. The university also has added the local hotel to its transit system as a regular shuttle stop while students are housed there.
Sunday night, 73 women slept at La Quinta Inn, 64 women slept at other off-campus locations, and two women stayed at the university's Butler Guest House. Women housed on the fourth floor of Oak Hall chose to stay in their own rooms after officials determined no damage was sustained at that level and gave an all-clear.
Provost and Executive Vice President Jerry Gilbert contacted all academic department heads Monday morning asking that excused absences be granted for students affected by the fire.
About 27 rooms will remain uninhabitable for an extended period of time, Broyles said. The university is working to make an insurance claim and begin repairs immediately.
For more information about Mississippi State, visit www.msstate.edu.