Fire Department

An alarm activation at Chamberlin Hall on the UW-Madison campus sent Engine Company 4 to University Avenue overnight. There were a number of people on scene at the time, and a few indicated to firefighters they could smell something like smoke as they were evacuating the building.

Firefighters made their way through the building to investigate the problem. They found water on an upper-level floor and the smell of smoke became much more apparent. The sound of an activated fire sprinkler could be heard through a locked door.

With evidence suggesting an active fire may be underway, Engine Company 4 summoned a full structure fire response to Chamberlin Hall. Ladder Company 1, Engine Company 1, Command Car 31, and other central units were dispatched to the scene.

Crews returned to the room in question and unlocked the door. That’s where they found evidence that a fire had taken place almost directly underneath an automatic fire sprinkler. The fire was already extinguished by the sprinkler, and there was no smoke in the room. The room was unoccupied at the time of the fire, and the cause is under investigation.

Thanks to an automatic fire sprinkler catching and extinguishing this fire early, damage was contained to its point of origin and did not spread to other rooms.