###

It’s right there in the handbook: candles, barbecues and other such incendiary products are not allowed in the dorms at Cal Poly Humboldt. 

Alas, on Wednesday, a resident of the on-campus College Creek Apartments demonstrated why that rule is in place. They lit a candle that subsequently set their room ablaze. 

Fortunately, the sprinkler system extinguished the fire around 4 p.m., according to News and Information Director Aileen Yoo. One room suffered fire and water damage and two more rooms suffered water damage, displacing a total of 12 students.

A silver lining on the cloud of this year’s unexpectedly slow enrollment growth: There’s plenty of space available, so the dozen students were quickly relocated to new rooms, Yoo told the Outpost via email.

In an odd coincidence, the fire happened on the same day that the Mad River Union‘s Jack Durham reported that the university recently nixed an agreement with the Arcata Fire Department “to provide special services including disaster preparedness, smoke removal, animal rescues, residence hall fire drills, an active shooter training and more.”

The split came after AFD sent the university a $100 invoice for responding to a false fire alarm, though the contract remains active until Nov. 18, according to Durham’s reporting.

AFD still responds to fires on campus, and they responded to this one, but it had already been doused by the building’s sprinkler systems, according to Yoo.