Fulton firefighters burn mock dorm to illustrate fire safety

Fulton Fire Department firefighters rush in to put out the flames on a mock dorm Wednesday at the department. The room was torched in order to show William Woods University students how quickly a fire grows and how important early detection is.
Fulton Fire Department firefighters rush in to put out the flames on a mock dorm Wednesday at the department. The room was torched in order to show William Woods University students how quickly a fire grows and how important early detection is.

It's usually not a good thing to watch a dorm go up in flames.

However, as part of a fire safety demonstration, that's just what a crowd of William Woods University students did Wednesday afternoon at the Fulton Fire Department. Students were shown what could happen if a candle were left unattended in a room. The mock room, built by FFD with donations from WWU and Sutherlands, resembled what a real dorm might look like, complete with a bed, TV, desk, chair and clothing.

Firefighter Todd Gray said the fire demonstrated what could happen if a candle fell into a trash can inside a residence hall room. In 15 seconds, students heard a smoke alarm go off. In one minute's time, the fire had spread fast, engulfing the bed. Gray announced that the heat temperature had reached 1,100 degrees at the two-minute mark. At two minutes and 40 seconds, firefighters Todd Pritchett, Matt Morice, Tyler Ginnever and Greg Luebbert used two hoses to extinguish the flames, leaving behind a black, charred skeleton of a room.

To help the tornado-stricken people of Dumas and surroundings, donations can be made to the Delta Area Disaster Relief Fund, care of the Delta Area Community Foundation, P.O. Box 894, Dumas, AR, 71639, or through the Arkansas Community Foundation, 700 S. Rock St., Little Rock, AR, 72202.