Careless cooking leads to dorm fires

and Jennifer Taylor College senior Roger Hecker has retired his frying pan. The High Rise North resident's cooking experiment resulted in the evacuation of the entire dormitory Friday at 4 p.m., Philadelphia Fire Department spokesperson Mike Negler said. "I'm not going to be cooking for a long time," said Hecker, who placed a lid over a oil-drenched frying pan while sauteing onions. The pan erupted in flames. Hecker, who tried to put out the fire by pouring the oil into his sink, sustained second-degree burns from the incident. Hecker was not the only experimental chef to cause a stir in the building. Later that evening, four fire engines, three ladder trucks and two battalion chiefs rushed to put out another HRN resident's dinner gone awry. Residents in a room on the fourth floor of HRN left their broiler on, Fire Department Lieutenant Tom Glennon said. The cause of the fire appeared to be six small loaves of bread that caught on fire, he added. Now, the room's front door bears a "Do Not Enter By Fire Marshall's Order" sign. And on Saturday, High Rise South was evacuated because seventh-floor residents left meat cooking in a pot, Negler said. According to Glennon, the Fire Department's main concerns with the fourth-floor HRN fire were shutting down the power to the oven and ventilating the room. He added that the only damage done to the apartment was that the plastic dials on the oven were melted and the surrounding cabinets were scorched. University Police Sergeant Mike Fink said that the fire was extinguished prior to the arrival of the fire department. Students said they were surprised when a loudspeaker announcement during the second fire in HRN called for them to exit the building. A crowd of HRN residents gathered outside the building to watch flashlights moving around the darkened fourth-floor room. "It's nice to know that the firemen got here quickly," College sophomore Heather McMahon said. "If there's ever a big fire we'll be safe." "Maybe it should be mandatory that those not on the meal plan learn to cook," she added. According to Residential Living Director Gigi Simeone, it is not unusual for cooking fires to be started by dorm residents. "Students should never make an assumption that it's a false alarm or drill," she said, referring to the fire alarms. "They should always evacuate." Simeone added that Residential Living always posts a notice if they are conducting a fire drill.