Fire at Rutgers-Camden

A fire in a student apartment kitchen area caused the evacuation of the Rutgers-Camden residence complex, and the relocation of nearly half of its residents to off-campus overnight accommodations, on Sunday, Feb. 20.

No injuries were sustained during this incident, and no medical treatment was required.

At approximately 9:30 p.m., a student in the Rutgers-Camden Apartments returned to her apartment and discovered smoke and a small fire caused by a cooking accident when a stovetop burner was left on. None of the other three undergraduates living in that apartment were home at the time.

The sprinkler system activated automatically within the affected section of the housing complex. Rutgers-Camden residence life staff immediately evacuated the complex's 521 student occupants to the Campus Center, located directly across Third Street. The Camden Fire Department responded promptly.

At 10:30 p.m., students in the Rutgers-Camden Tower section of the housing complex were permitted to return to their rooms.

At 11:45 p.m., approximately 220 residents in the Rutgers-Camden Apartments were transported by Rutgers shuttle buses to rooms in the Hilton and Holiday Inn in Cherry Hill, where they spent the night. Meal provisions also were arranged for these students, who were transported back to campus this morning by Rutgers shuttle buses.

Effective Monday morning, students are allowed to return to all but four apartments. Rutgers-Camden will provide on- or off-site housing accommodations for 12 students whose apartments sustained water damage. It is anticipated that those apartments will be reopened by the end of this week.

The Rutgers-Camden housing complex consists of the 10-story Rutgers-Camden Tower, which provides traditional dormitory-style housing for undergraduate students, and the six-story Rutgers-Camden Apartments, which serves graduate and undergraduate students. The complex is staffed 24 hours a day by members of the Rutgers-Camden residence life staff and the Rutgers University Police Department and is located on Third Street, between Cooper Street and the Benjamin Franklin Bridge on the Rutgers-Camden campus.

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Author: Press Release