Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Fire Scare Evacuates Jesuit Residence

LAUREN WEBER/THE HOYA Jesuits and others wait outside Wolfington Hall Monday morning as firefighters investigate the cause for an alarm.
LAUREN WEBER/THE HOYA
Jesuits and others wait outside Wolfington Hall Monday morning as firefighters investigate the cause for an alarm.

Jesuits were evacuated from Wolfington Hall around 7:30 a.m. Monday after a mechanical malfunction set off the building’s fire alarm.

Five fire trucks arrived at the scene shortly after. Though the D.C. Fire Department quickly determined that there was no fire in the residence, it took until about 8:20 a.m. for them determine the exact cause of the alarm.

“Basically what we had was an overheated elevator motor … in the elevator machine room [in the building’s basement] that kicked off the alarm,” DCFD Captain Larry Settle said.

The trucks left the scene at about 8:30 a.m. after the university called an engineer to fix the malfunctioning motor. Residents were also allowed back into the building at this time.

Jesuits clustered outside the building maintained a positive attitude.

“We haven’t has this much excitement since the fire in 1973,” Fr. Stephen Fields, S.J. said.

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