Thousands evacuate after fire at ASU

Dozens of firefighters battled a blaze Thursday afternoon at ASU’s Memorial Union in Tempe.

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Tempe fire investigator Mike Reichling said more than 5,000 people were evacuated from the building, and no injuries have been reported. He said four students in wheelchairs had to be carried from the Memorial Union basement.

Overall, Reichling said more than 60 firefighters from multiple agencies responded to the 911 call, which dispatchers received at 12:48 p.m. He said crews battled active flames at the building for 20 to 25 minutes.

"The firefighters have to go in and fight the initial fire, then get to the seat of the fire," Reichling said. "And that takes time."

He said investigators have not yet determined what caused the fire, which apparently started in the kitchen area on the building's second floor.

ASU fire prevention officer Stan Bolek said the fire burned hot enough and fast enough to crack the Memorial Union structure and threaten the integrity of the eastern end of the building.

ASU police Cmdr. Jim Hardina said seven campus officers and 13 Tempe officers helped with the evacuation, and all students were cooperative.

"Not only do the firefighters need to get in and do what they do, but the public needs to be safe," he said.

Dozens of evacuated students gathered outside the building and watched the flames and smoke.

"I thought it was a drill, so I took my time," said freshman Rachael Forman,

who was eating lunch at Pitchforks dining hall when the fire started.

By the time she got outside, Forman said she saw the smoke and realized the building was on fire.

The Memorial Union includes restaurants, conference rooms, game rooms, bowling alleys, study halls and student government headquarters. Memorial Union is more than 50 years old, with initial construction completed in 1956.

Several renovations and additions over the years have more than doubled the building's original size of 109,000 square feet, according to the Association of College Unions International.

Most recently, the union underwent renovations in 2006 to convert a central area of the main floor into Pitchforks, an all-you-can-eat dining facility.

Students said the fire started near Maricopa Cafe on the north side of the building, and the flames moved south. At about 1:30 p.m., firefighters broke several second-floor windows near Taco Bell and the Wells Fargo bank branch.

ASU junior Amanda Kekich said she saw the smoke while driving near campus and came to see what was going on.

"I saw smoke coming over the hill near Curry and College," she said. "I was alarmed."

Jessica Ochoa, a cook at the Pitchforks restaurant, said the staff smelled the fire about five minutes before the alarms went off.

“We could start smelling the burned plastic about one o'clock," Ochoa said. "Burgers don’t smell like that.”

She said the Pitchforks staff could see flames engulfing the stairwell on the eastern end of the building as they evacuated.

ASU installed a text messaging emergency warning system this year after the shooting rampage at Virginia Tech University.

ASU spokeswoman Leah Hardesty said text alerts went out to about 3,500 people at 1:56 p.m. -- more than one hour after the fire started.

Students at the scene said fire alarms also went off Wednesday and last week at the Memorial Union, and fire alarms have gone off frequently all semester.

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