ISU student apartment complex on fire
UPDATE 04/01/18: Students were given a couple of hours to get as much stuff as they could today and then other rooming assignments.
“As I was running out, I saw another student that looked kind of frantic and I asked him what happened and he said he was cooking and something went wrong. I asked if he tried putting it out and he said no because he panicked. I said, ‘Let’s go back up and we’ll put it out’ because every kitchen has a fire extinguisher. By the time I reached the floor that it first started, the whole floor was up in flames and I turned around and said, ‘we need to get out of this building because it’s not safe anymore’ and I yelled that it wasn’t a drill and that everybody needs to get out,” says Nicholas Taylor, lives in Schubert Heights.
“The fire alarm went off and we’ve had drills before so we were just kind of like whatever. Then we heard screaming and people are running down from the 4th floor and so then when we got out all we could see was black smoke flying out the windows. I think one of the scariest parts is you could hear glass shattering from the heat. And the screams,” says Mckenzie Kohler, lives in Schubert Heights, “When we first walked in, it’s completely black. The lights are melted from the ceiling, there are pieces of burnt ceiling all covering the ground. Then when we got into our room, everything looked fine at first but when we started grabbing our stuff, there was ash everywhere.”
UPDATE 3/31/18 8:30 p.m.: A spokesman for ISU, Stuart Summers, confirmed there were no injuries from the fire.
Summers said the fire broke out a little before 6:30 p.m. in the kitchen of one of the units on the fourth floor. The fire was out by 8 p.m. and fire crews were continuing to mop up hot spots.
There are 51 units and 70 residents at Schubert Heights.
Summers said all were evacuated safely to Turner Hall. There, they are working with university housing officials to find accommodations for the night and possibly for the coming days. Summers said with other housing locations and buildings, the university can accommodate them without a problem.
Summers said the university is also working with students and faculty on any potential conflicts with academics the fire may have caused. Summers said for example, if there were any homework assignments and such that needed to be done by Monday and their belongings are in the building, they will work with faculty to accommodate the students.
Summers said there is a lot of smoke damage but the extent of the damage from the fire is still undetermined.
Schubert Heights is one of ISU’s residence halls.
ORIGINAL STORY: The Pocatello Fire Department is on scene of a fire at Schubert Heights student housing complex in Pocatello.
Schubert Heights is on Bartz Drive, near Bartz Field and the Stephens Performing Arts Center on the ISU campus.
The housing complex has been evacuated.
We are working to get more information and will update this article as more details become available.
