60 CCSU students forced out of rooms by dorm fire

By Evan Sobol, Olivia Schueller and Rob Polansky

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    NEW BRITAIN, Connecticut (WFSB) — Sixty Central Connecticut State University students were forced from their dorm rooms because of a fire Monday night, the school said.

Officials said the fire broke out on the first floor of James Hall just after 6 p.m.

Students were evacuated and New Britain firefighters put out the fire within minutes, said school officials.

“Students are safe and [went] to Memorial Hall and the Student Center while the university coordinates temporary housing,” officials said in a letter to the school community.

Dr. Zulma Toro, CCSU’s president, said it was an electrical fire, but the cause remained under investigation.

Student Trevor Oloughlin said he first noticed something was going on when he smelled something strange as he walked into James Hall.

“I walked into the elevator thinking nothing of it and I saw the flames on the ceiling,” Oloughlin said.

He said he did everything he could to get himself and others out as quickly as possible.

“I went over to pull the alarm and started telling people to get out of the building,” Oloughlin said.

Stephanie Sirico heard the alarm from the upper half of the building and saw flames as she got out.

“We came down the stairs and we saw smoke at first and then I looked over and saw the fire on the ceiling and the water coming down and smoke,” Sirico said.

The school said the New Britain Fire Department was called and the fire was extinguished within minutes.

Three hours later, students were able to go in and get their essential belongings.

The university said students who live on the second floor and above slept there Monday night. The first floor, however, was closed off until further notice.

“There is fire damage and water damage that will require us to rebuild,” Toro said.

The university said it provided temporary housing at a nearby hotel.

While the first floor had significant damage, Toro said she did not expect any long-term issues.

“I am very confident that we have a strong crew and team here that we’ll get things ready and do whatever remodeling we need to do in a couple of days,” she said. “The university is grateful everyone is safe. The students did exactly what they should in a situation like this and we are working on making them comfortable in a new space.”

A university spokesperson said the hotel would be available on Tuesday as well. After that, the situation would be assessed on a day-to-day basis.

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