The unexpected sprinkler activation early Tuesday morning on the Anderson fifth floor North bridge was an act of vandalism, according to officials from Housing and Dining Programs and the Department of Public Safety.
Public Safety is conducting an ongoing investigation to find the resident responsible for the sprinkler activation and ensuing flood.
The sprinklers were activated at 12:04 a.m., which then triggered the fire alarm system, according to Erin Genide, the resident director of Anderson Hall. Staff members from Housing and Dining, Facilities Maintenance and Public Safety determined upon inspection that vandalism caused the unexpected activation of the sprinklers.
Public Safety Lieutenant Dale Booth said a student reported that he had seen two subjects fleeing the scene at the time of the sprinkler activation.
While the sprinkler activated on the fifth floor, water also leaked down to some of the fourth-floor bridge rooms. Dehumidifiers were placed throughout the fourth- and fifth-floor bridge on Tuesday to dry out the flooding.
Dillon Sawyer, a freshman in the School of International Service, was in his room on Anderson 5 when the sprinkler was activated.
“I heard a bang in the hallway, and immediately after that I heard a lot of people running and I heard my [resident assistant] screaming,” Sawyer said. “I looked out into the hallway and saw massive amounts of water pouring out of the ceiling. The carpet was soaked and the entire floor smelled very strongly of chemicals. I thought it was a gas leakage.”
Students in Letts and Anderson Halls evacuated the residence halls once the fire alarm was activated. When the residents of the Anderson 5 North bridge returned to their floor, they were not allowed to enter the hallway; instead, they were told to stay in the Anderson 5 North lounge.
An Anderson RA, who declined to give her name, told the residents that she and her fellow RAs had gone through the rooms with Metropolitan Police Department officers, who had just arrived on the scene, to unplug all electronic devices. They had also moved large objects like guitars off the residents’ floors.
Residents of the Anderson 5 North bridge were advised to make other sleeping arrangements for the night — they could either sleep in a friend’s room or take one of the temporary unoccupied rooms being provided by the university. No students took up the offer for a university-provided room, according to Genide.
While some students were allowed back in their rooms by 2 a.m. day morning, other students in the most severely water-damaged rooms were not allowed back into their rooms until 7 a.m., according to students living on the Anderson 5 North bridge.
Genide said that while Housing and Dining is sensitive to the costs already incurred by the damages to students’ personal belongings, students must pay for the damages to their floor and their personal belongings.
“[According to the Housing Agreement] the university is not responsible for the loss or damage to personal property in the event of this type of situation,” Genide said in an e-mail. “We always encourage residents to insure personal belongings through either their parents’ or guardians’ homeowner’s insurance or through renter’s insurance. This is standard with almost any lease, on campus or off, and we encourage all students to look into these options.”
Kelcie Pegher, a sophomore in the School of Communication, lives on the Anderson 5 North bridge almost directly next to where the sprinkler was broken. Pegher said her room was one of the most severely water damaged rooms on the floor, and that she strongly disagrees with Housing and Dining’s policy about room and floor damage.
“I’m mostly just shocked by the lack of responsibility that Housing and Dining is taking right now for this,” Pegher said. “I understand that their statement says that they can’t do anything about it, but it seems obnoxious that simply because my room is [near where the sprinkler vandalism occurred] I should have to incur the costs of all this damage.”
Housing and Dining provided Pegher with a dehumidifier on Tuesday to dry out her room. Pegher estimates that over $200 worth of damage was done to her personal items, including her laptop charger and four out of the five notebooks that she uses for her classes.
Pegher also noted that anything that was on her floor at the time of the flooding, including her clothes, were thrown out into the hallway when the RAs went to the rooms to remove residents’ personal items from their floors. As a result much of her clothing was stained and dirty or, in some cases, completely ruined.
Pegher said she will be spending the next few days cleaning her room and trying to recover from the effects of the sprinkler incident.
“Everything is just completely soaked — it’s horrendous,” Pegher said. “I’ve been in contact with my family, but I really don’t know what I’m supposed to do at this point.”
Public Safety is asking students to come forward with any information that they may have relating to who is responsible for tampering with the sprinklers. Students can contact Public Safety by e-mailing dps@american.edu or calling the Public Safety office at 202-885-2527.
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