University Police are conducting an arson investigation after posters were burned on several dorm doors in Foster-Walker Complex early Saturday morning, UP and Evanston Fire Department officials said.
UP responded to a fire alarm at Foster-Walker at about 4 a.m. Saturday, Sgt. Steven Stoeckl of UP said. No one was injured, he said. Firefighters arrived at about 4:10 a.m., Capt. Kurt Dickman of EFD said.
The east side of the dorm was evacuated and firefighters went to the second floor, where they found burn patterns on two dorm room doors, Dickman said. It looked like paper had burned on the doors, and the fire was out when EFD arrived, he said.
Michelle Hirsch, a Medill junior and second-floor Foster-Walker resident, said she was sleeping when the fire alarm went off.
She said she smelled something burning as she left the building.
“It wasn’t just popcorn,” she said. “It was clear there must have been a fire somewhere.”
Hirsch said she saw ashes on the floor in front of several doors in her hall. The burned signs were the namecards that had been on residents’ doors, she said.
“What it looked like was someone went on a drunken rampage through the dorm and torched a bunch of doors,” Hirsch said. “It could easily have been a crazy drunken kid or it could have been more serious.”
UP will report back to EFD after completing the investigation, Dickman said.
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