On Thursday, Oct. 17, a sprinkler was set off on the third floor of Woodland Hall, causing water damage to the surrounding dorms and forcing students to evacuate the building. Area Coordinator of Woodland Hall, Kevin Castiglioni was first on the scene to figure out what happened.
Castiglioni traveled outside from his apartment to see students have safely evacuated Woodland Hall. The Newton Fire Department and Campus Police arrived at the scene promptly to assess the situation.
“I follow them upstairs and [there is] water leaking from the ceiling, there is water all over the floor, it's like considerably, a decent amount of water. I was assessing how bad the damage was. It was leaking, I think from 303 to 308 and that was the room where the water had kind of stopped,” Castiglioni said.
The same incident happened in 2021, and Castiglioni used his crisis management skills and professional knowledge to manage the situation. “I just used my prior experience, knowing that this was a major emergency, I figured out what rooms were kind of impacted on the third floor, we found out more rooms were impacted on the second and first floor a little bit later,” Castiglioni said.
Castiglioni immediately notified Elisa Scarsella-Bayiates, manager of housing operations, and Latoya Johnson-Pride, associate dean of Student Affairs, who helped assist relocating students whose rooms were affected.
“Latoya came [to campus], we assessed the damage together, we collected the students who were impacted in the lounge. We [said to]them, you can go home with your parents or guardians if they're able to pick you up now. If you have a friend on campus or somewhere else where you can stay for the night, you can go there, or if you don't have any of those options and you want to be relocated to another room, we can do that,” Castiglioni said.
Students were understanding of the situation despite the mess they discovered in their rooms.
“The night of, it was a little bit calm, oddly, because I think students were, like, in shock. I think the students who were affected were in shock because you look and you see, like, an inch and an inch and a half, two inches of water in your room, and you're like, that's not good. I think the other students who weren't affected were relieved they weren't affected,” Castiglioni said.
Meghan Clair, a Resident Assistant on the first floor, described the night as chaotic. The RAs that were in the building were tasked with making sure that everyone inside was able to get to the nearest exit as quickly and safely as possible. Once everyone was out and the sprinklers shut off, the RAs went between rooms to assess the damage.
Based on the amount of damage, students would either be able to stay in their room or be relocated. Clair describes her experience during this, saying, “I was in honest to god shock when I saw what had happened, and especially what had happened to my friend Jayda’s room, because it looked terrible.” She also explains that despite the amount of damage, this may still be “a good way to ensure that these students know the consequences of their actions, even if it was completely accidental.”
Most students affected found somewhere else to stay for the night. A few students did need a room to stay for the night and were placed in Pickard House.
Associate Vice President and Dean of Student Affairs Dave Hennessey learned of the incident the night of and assessed the damage the next day.
“I came in at about 7 am the following morning. My immediate reaction was one of relief when I realized that Dean Johnson-Pride was not calling about a student injured or in crisis,” Dean Hennessey said. “Property damage is something that can be handled by repair or replacement. Next, I was concerned about where students would go and then about how long they would be displaced.”
“Our Plant Operations, Campus Police, and Residential Life staff, in collaboration with off-campus vendors for cleaning, alarm, and electrical services, kicked into high gear. I am sure that many students were frustrated, but the responders did great jobs getting people back in their rooms as soon as possible.” Hennessey said.
Puritan Restoration, a water damage restoration company, arrived on campus on Oct. 18 to clean up the damage and restore the rooms. Students moved back into Woodland Hall the same day.
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