The Rice Thresher, Vol. 95, No. 10, Ed. 1 Friday, November 2, 2007 Page: 5 of 24
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THE RICE THRESHER NEWS FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 2,2007
Natural gas scare forces evacuation of Baker College
by Cindy Dinh
WW THK THRKSHKR
Baker College residents had an
unexpected start to their weekend
Friday night, as they were evacuated
due to what was initially reported as
a gas leak in the colleges' kitchen.
However, it was revelaed lo be merely
a blown out pilot light.
At 9:17 p.m., Baker President
Karen Spitzfaden reported the
smell of natural gas to Facilities,
Engineering and Planning Depart-
ment, who sent representatives to
the scene.
"Our room is over the servery,
so everyone in my room thought
the smell must be from the kitchen,"
Spitzfaden said.
Students in rooms closest to the
servery were evacuated first.
However, to ensure all residents'
safety, Rice University Police Depart-
ment later ordered an evacuation of
the entire college.
"The only thing that worried me
was when one of the RUPD officers
said that pulling the fire alarm might
set off a spark and blow the whole
place up," Spitzfaden said.
RUPD went door-to-door to make
sure students did not mistake the
fire alarm for a drill. Students evacu-
ated to the Allen Center or to Ixivett
College commons for no more than
half an hour.
"Everyone was good natured in
evacuating and brought food and
drinks to camp out at Ixwett Col-
lege," Baker College Master Jose
Aranda said.
As a matter of safety protocol, a
slew of agencies arrived quickly on
the scene. Employees from FE&P
and Housing and Dining first veri-
fied the claim. RUPD later called the
Houston Fire Department, which
responded with five fire engines,
JOHN SANDERS/THRESHER
Houston Fire Department firefighters respond to a call about a gas leak in the kitchen of Baker College Friday night. Representatives from Facilities, Engi-
neering and Planning were the first to arrive on scene, and Rice University Police Department ordered an evacuation of the entire college.
and Centerpoint Energy Entex
conducted a final assessment of the
situation and switched off the gas.
"Fortunately, it wasn't a real
gas leak," Rice University Police
Captain Phil Hassell said. "All the
agencies were called out to the
scene to follow protocol."
Instead of a gas leak from a bro-
ken pipe, the natural gas smell was
caused by a blown out pilot light on
one of the gas-burning appliances
in the kitchen. Most commonly
found in water heaters, pilot lights
continuously emit a small flame and
serve as the ignition source for gas
burners. If the flame is blown out,
natural gas begins to leak.
"There really wasn't any dan-
ger," Housing and Dining Tenant
Services Manager Mark Chaszar,
said. "It takes a very long time for
the pilot light, which emits a mi-
nuscule amount of gas, to do any
real harm."
After Centerpoint shut off
the gas, kitchen windows and
doors were opened for ventilation
and the pilot light was reignited.
Before evacuating, Baker senior
Robert Smith played WeDidn't Start
the Fire on loop over the college's
loudspeakers.
"We were reasonably confident
our commons wouldn't blow up,"
Smith said.
CHICKEN. NO PRESCRIPTION NEEDED.
How our chicken is raised, naturally, makes all the difference.
In fact, both the chicken and pork we serve in Texas
are free of antibiotics and added growth hormones,
fed a vegetarian diet and raised humanely.
We think that meat raised naturally is better.
Serving naturally raised meat is another step in our
ongoing Food With Integrity journey - bringing you
the best ingredients from the best sources.
MEXICAN GRILL
- SERVING ANTIBI01IC-FREE CHICKEN i« TEXAS -
KIRBY & NOTTINGHAM
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Whitfield, Stephen. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 95, No. 10, Ed. 1 Friday, November 2, 2007, newspaper, November 2, 2007; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth443115/m1/5/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.