Fire Department

An “incinerated Pop-Tart” is what brought Engine Company 9 to Phillips Hall on the UW-Madison campus.

Alarms began sounding around 8:55 a.m., prompting an evacuation of the residence hall. It was unknown to firefighters at the time of their arrival what the specific problem was. Engine 9 was met by a maintenance worker who said the alarm originated in a second-floor dorm room, and there was a smell of burned food in the building.

A light haze had filled the hallway, and firefighters located the burned Pop-Tart still inside a microwave. As firefighters opened windows to ventilate, UW Facilities silenced the alarm, and residents were welcomed back inside.