Students were evacuated from Hamilton College House yesterday after a frozen pipe sparked an electrical emergency.
The pipe burst in the high rise building's electrical distribution room around 2 p.m., activating the sprinkler system. The power was automatically shut off to avert an electrical fire.
Facilities and Real Estate Services spokesman Tony Sorrentino said the Hamilton emergency was a product of several circumstances.
"This is what happens when you have older buildings and a few days of well-below-freezing temperatures," he said.
The University spent $26.5 million renovating the building during the summer of 2003, yet much of the internal plumbing, wiring and appliances dates back to the original construction more than 30 years ago.
Hamilton residents and staff -- including College House Dean Tabitha Dell'Angelo -- were forced outside the building for several hours.
"Standing outside in the cold while the fire alarms went off, I wasn't thrilled," Dell'Angelo said. "But when I realized the severity of the problem, I understood why we had to do so."
Engineers and electricians were called in to assess possible damage caused by the burst pipe.
Though the power was not turned back on until 4:20 p.m., some students were allowed back in the dorm at 3 p.m.
Emergency lighting was used in the corridors, and students were forced to take the stairs up to their rooms since the elevators were not working.
Many students said they were not aware of the nature of the emergency.
College senior Anthony Neshewat was surprised to come back from class to a dark building. He was not informed of what was going on when he came to the building at 3 p.m. and was only asked to show his Penn ID to be let upstairs.
"Luckily I'm on the sixth floor so it wasn't so bad," he said of walking up to his room.
Others had a longer way to climb. College sophomore Martyn Griffen trekked up all the way to the 24th floor.
"I could always use a little exercise," Griffen said. "It was really interesting when I got there at 2:45 [p.m.]. They told me the place would be shut down for an hour and I spent a few minutes out in the cold with my schoolbooks, not knowing where to go."
All Griffen was told by staff was that there was an electrical mishap.
Neshewat said that at about 4:30 p.m. an announcement was made over the speakers informing residents that everything had been resolved.
Dell'Angelo said she was informed by fire safety personnel and electricians that they do not anticipate any further problems.
DuBois College House, which is located behind Hamilton, also experienced a power outage late that afternoon, but it is unclear if the two incidents were related.
