A small fire broke out in the basement laundry room of Hokona Hall late Friday morning, damaging at least one dryer while smoke circulated throughout the building.
Dorm residents and staff evacuated the building, and no one was injured, said Kerry Horton, Albuquerque Fire Department battalion commander.
Horton said the Fire Department got a call at 11:18 this morning.
“It looks like (the dryer) probably just overheated,” he said. “The fire was confined to the dryer. It looks like a big smoke event, because the ventilation system took it everywhere.”
Freshman Jocelyn Rowse had just stepped out of the building when the fire started. Her clothes were still in the washer.
Residents were not allowed back into the dorm until 2 p.m. because of the danger of smoke inhalation.
All of the residents and staff members in the building were evacuated at the time of the fire, Horton said.
“Personnel and property representatives were good about getting everybody evacuated and stuff like that,” he said. “That’s a big help for us.”
Teresa Ortiz, a Residence Life coordinator, said Hokona Hall had a fire drill on Wednesday, which helped everyone exit the building safely.
“We do train our staff the very best we can every year, and they followed the procedure like we wanted them to,” she said. “I’m glad it was during the day when a lot of kids were already in class, so it helped not being in the middle of the night.”
Rowse said the equipment in the laundry room is often in disrepair.
“All year, half of (the washers) have been broken, and when they’re all working the dryers don’t work,” she said. “I think that’s very irresponsible of the University to have things that are going to catch fire.”
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