Glen Tower fire started by unattended candle, Fire Marshal says
By Jaylen Beaner-Walker, Staff Writer
The Maryland State Fire Marshal determined that the April 20 fire in Glen Tower A was caused by an unattended lit candle.
The Towson University Police Department and the Baltimore County Fire Department responded to the incident shortly after it broke out late that Monday night. The sprinkler system activated, stopping the accidental fire but causing water damage to several dorm rooms.
About 30 students between floor 3 and floor 15 were displaced, according to an email sent by Housing and Residence Life Monday evening. Total damages amounted to $100,000, according to the Fire Marshall’s report.
It took about six hours for the building to be cleared for student entry. Housing and Residence Life notified students via email around 1:30 a.m. that they were safe to return to their dorm rooms. Students whose rooms were affected received separate notice.
Towson University President Mark Ginsberg sent out a statement the following morning of the incident.
“Our Housing & Residence Life team has been working diligently to support those affected and provide relocation for any students whose rooms will require additional remediative work,” Ginsberg said in the email.
As compensation, Towson has provided impacted students with additional “housing and dining support,” spokesperson Jamie Abell said in an email. Students may also receive additional financial assistance with the university’s emergency fund. The emergency fund, managed by Student Outreach and Support, provides students with “short-term relief” following an incident where students are in need of immediate financial help.
Sophomore Kene Arah, a resident of floor 15, recalls hearing an alarm sound in a neighboring door room the night of the fire. Following the alarm, he noticed other things starting to occur outside his room.
“Maybe five minutes later I started to smell something and then I asked my roommate again, I was like, do you smell that? He was like, no,” Arah said. “Thought nothing of it.”
A few minutes later, he heard the sprinklers go off.
“I heard the water flowing through the wall, the pipes that are on the other side of the wall,” Arah said.
Arah and his roommate evacuated the building. Towson had the University Union, which is next to Glen Tower A, stay open later than normal to accommodate the temporarily displaced students.
“They didn’t give us directions on what we need to do, or they just said, okay, the Union is going to be open longer. And that’s really kind of it,” Arah said.
Arah stayed in the Union until around 1:30 a.m. and said he did not directly receive an email about the status of his room when students were allowed to go back in, but returned anyway. Following his return that morning, Arah noticed a puddle of water in the corner of his room, where a few of his clothes were soaking wet.
Arah notified a maintenance crew of the damage, and they placed a fan in his room and took out the lining of the bottom of the drywall that was wet. Arah later received an email from Housing and Residence Life that offered $100 in Doc Dollars for laundry and other expenses.
