Mundelein fire damages second floor ministry office 1/31/07

Students living in residence halls near the Mundelein Center may have ventured out of their rooms on Sunday night expecting a parade. Sirens sounded around 10 p.m. and at least 15 Chicago Fire and Chicago Police Department vehicles lined Sheridan Road in response to a fire on the second floor of Mundelein. No one was injured and the firefighters safely extinguished the fire.

"I was doing homework in my room when I heard all of the sirens, so I went outside to see what the commotion was," freshman Brandon Ver Vaet, a resident of Simpson Hall, said. "I heard it wasn't a big fire, so I was surprised that that many trucks showed up for it."

According to the director of campus safety, Bernard Ward, Ph.D., the fire department speculated that the fire might have started in a dormitory, which accounted for the number of firefighters dispatched.

While the building was mostly empty because of the late hour, Mass was being held in the auditorium. The 9:30 p.m. Mass was in the middle of the homily when a member of the ministry staff discovered the fire and pulled the alarm. The fire itself did not trigger the alarm nor did the sprinkler system activate.

"At first, I wasn't sure if it was actually a fire or a malfunction or a test," freshman Bill Pigott, who was attending the mass, said. "When we walked out it smelled funny, and then we could see a red glow from one of the rooms."

Those attending Mass were promptly moved to the Sullivan Center where the service continued in Galvin Auditorium. However, when the attendees returned to Mundelein Auditorium it was discovered that two coats, a cell phone, an iPod and assorted keys were missing.

"It seems to be a crime of opportunity," Ward said.

The fire originated in a trash can in room 203, the office of Patrick Eccles, the Alternative Break Immersion coordinator and a chaplain in the university ministry.

"Certainly, this event has caused a lot of stress," Chris Murphy, the director of campus ministries said, noting that programming information and other materials were destroyed in the fire.

The main damage was contained to room 203; the rest of the offices were damaged by smoke and water. Murphy estimated that eight offices were damaged, as well as the Puja Room, which is a prayer room maintained by the Hindu Students Organization. HSO is being housed in the Hayes Room on the 2nd floor. Currently, all of Mundelein is filled with deodorizing machines to remove the smoke smell and particles from the air of the 76-year old-building.

"Luckily, the damage was contained," Maeve Kiley, director of communications in the university marketing and communication department, said.

It is estimated that clean-up will take three to four weeks. Until then, mission and ministry will maintain its temporary office in the student lounge on the first floor of the Mundelein Center.

"The response from other offices around the university has been marvelous," Murphy said. "There's just been an outpouring of offers of conference rooms and office space for us to use."

While the mission and ministry office is recovering and planning to maintain planned events as normal by adjusting their locations, campus safety and the Chicago Fire and Police Departments are still looking into what exactly caused the fire.

"It appears to be an accident and we're treating it that way, but it is still under investigations," Ward said, adding that at this point it appears that the fire started in the trash can as the result of a discarded cigarette.

Loyola President Rev. Michael J. Garanzini, S.J. was out in the cold taking in the scene of flashing lights of fire trucks and police squad cars that lit up Sheridan Road from the Sullivan Center down to Regis Hall. He spoke with students who had gathered on the corner of Kenmore Avenue and Sheridan Road to catch a glimpse of the action even though there was not much going on besides the snow flurries that came and went in the nearly subzero temperatures. Students applauded and shouted for the firefighters as they came out off Mundelein.

"I was very impressed with the response of our own security and safety people," Garanzini said. "They did a superb job. They also got the Chicago Fire Department there in two minutes. I'm sure that this saved us from more damage. And, thank God, no one was injured."

Contributions by LeeAnn Maton, news writer.