Flooding in LaFarge Residence Center at approximately 8:30 p.m. on Nov. 27 caused water to pour in and through the building’s elevators, along with the ground, first and second floor hallways, requiring an evacuation of student residents.
The fire alarm went off initially in the residence hall at around 7:50 p.m. A second alarm went off, at approximately 8:30 p.m., and as students exited the building this time, they could see water rushing down from the second floor.
“All of a sudden, we walked out, and water started coming out from a first floor suite in like a waterfall onto the pavement below outside,” Alex Weitman ’21, a Resident Assistant on the fourth floor of LaFarge, said. “Water started leaking through the lobby, pushing the panels down.”
The Office of Public Safety declined to comment but said that Residence Life and Facilities had arrived on scene.
An email was sent to LaFarge residents after the incident, citing a broken sprinkler as the source of the flooding and providing suggestions of Campion, common spaces in Sourin Residence Center and Villiger Hall and the Francis A. Drexel Library as alternate temporary locations for residents.
“LaFarge Hall was evacuated this evening due to a broken sprinkler head that resulted in significant flooding throughout the ground, first, and second floors,” the email said. “We are waiting for contractors to arrive to repair the broken sprinkler and to begin the cleaning process.”
Some of the residents in the hall at the time said they noticed a quick and large accumulation of water immediately following crashing sounds.
“We just heard a really loud noise and water just pouring out at a very fast rate,” Michael Comerford ’22, a resident of LaFarge suite 260 said. “Then we walked out and water was flooding out of suite 240 and it was coming out pretty fast. Everyone just didn’t know what to do, so we were trying to just get out of the building.”
Jenna Szabo ’22 was walking back to Lafarge when she noticed masses of students walking from Lafarge to the DB section of Campion Student Center.
“Someone came in not that long ago, and told everyone don’t leave here [DB] and try to go back into the building,” Szabo said.
She added that earlier in the semester her bathroom in Lafarge previously flooded twice, and took 16 hours to repair.
Annie Minaglia ’22, who lives in Sourin Residence Center, was in a friend’s room on the third floor of Lafarge, when the fire alarm went off.
“The other alarm went off and people didn’t take it as seriously,” Minaglia said. “But then we realized there was water leaking from the elevators.”
Now that they have been evacuated, some residents’ concern turned to the longer-term effects this incident will have, wondering where they will sleep or shower, and how much of their personal belongings are damaged.
“My stuff is probably destroyed,” Will Davies ’20, a Resident Assistant on LaFarge second floor said. “I just hope they get everything fixed quickly and we have a place to stay.”
At 12:05 a.m. on Nov. 28, residents were allowed to re-enter LaFarge. According to the email sent to residents, elevators will remain offline until contractors can confirm the equipment has not been damaged by the water. Students could be heard cheering as they flooded back into the hall.