The new Thomas C. Vandiver Residence Hall at North Greenville University, only two weeks from completion and scheduled to open for the fall term, was damaged by fire late Wednesday night, May 31.
A smoldering spark from a plumber’s tool is believed to have ignited a fire May 31 that damaged at least four rooms of North Greenville University’s new women’s residence hall. Repairs are expected to be completed before students arrive this fall.The Tigerville Fire Department ruled the fire an accident. Apparently a plumber was repairing a leaking faucet on an exterior wall. Heat was used during the repairs, leaving a spark smoldering for hours. The blaze erupted between 8:30 and 9 p.m.
Jeff Bennett, who was jogging in the area, noticed the flames and ran to the home of university president Jimmy Epting, just across the highway from the campus, to alert him.
“I was just getting home,” said Epting. “My wife called 911 and I ran over with my fire extinguisher and tried to put it out and thought I had, but it ignited again.”
The fire caused limited damage to at least four rooms, a stairwell, hallways and roof of the two-story residence hall.
There has been no official estimate of the repair costs, but the building was insured. Fortunately, no one was inside the building when the fire began.
“Although we were definitely disappointed and quite sad about the fire, we’re certainly glad no one was injured and realize it could’ve been much worse,” said Epting. “We were planning on using the new hall for Centrifuge camps, and won’t be able to pursue that now. However, we hope to get it back into shape before school begins the second week of August.”
The campus of NGU has experienced rapid growth over the past few years in enrollment and in building developments, including the Melvin and Dollie Younts Football Stadium and the Todd Dining Hall and Tingle Student Life Center.
University officials remain confident that their newest addition, the Vandiver residence hall, will be ready to house female students this fall.
“Since we have many more students wanting to come here, we certainly need the 72-bed residence hall to accommodate this growth,” said Epting. “So we appreciate the continuing prayers as we try to move forward on this project.”