Fire damages office in Technical Arts Building

by Hilary McNamara, opinion editor

A candle warmer or lamp left plugged in could be to blame for a recent fire that damaged one office and disrupted classes in the Technical Arts Building on the first day of the spring semester at South Plains College’s Levelland campus.

The fire was discovered on Jan. 16 by an instructor who then contacted the campus police. The campus police contacted the Levelland Fire Department. The police were called at 7 a.m and the fire was thought to have broken out sometime between 5 a.m. and 7 a.m., according to Tony Silvas of Blackmon Mooring Steamatic of Lubbock. 

Cary Marrow, director of the physical plant at SPC, said that though the fire did not engulf the whole building, the south wing was affected and the main damage was in Office 111. The fire temporarily closed down the building, but college officials were quick to relocate all interrupted classes.

“We specifically made the cleaning crew focus on classrooms to get them back up,” Marrow said. “That’s what we are here for.”

In investigating the cause of the fire, the fire marshall said that it was not a building problem, but instead the fire was most likely caused by a candle warmer or lamp that was left plugged in, according to Marrow. He added that he has been informed by the fire marshal that the fire is going to be ruled as “accidental.”

The total damage has not been estimated yet, according to Marrow, but so far an air conditioner unit had to be replaced. Marrow said SPC has already paid a deductible of  $25,000, and the total cost will be “well above that.” He added that it is going to be a slow process to get the building “back to normal,” and it would take a few weeks. Most of the damage to the south wing of the Technical Arts Building was soot, scorch marks and smoke.   

The college enlisted Blackmon Mooring Steamatic of Lubbock to clean up the damages. The cost for the cleaning was $8,200, according to Tony Silvas of Blackmon Mooring Steamatic.

Marrow said that due to the safety preparations for winter break, the fire damage was half of what it could have been. All the doors were closed, so it kept the fire to a minimum, according to the information given to Marrow by the fire marshal.

All classes have resumed as normal.