The J-TAC

Issue date: 9/18/08 Section: News

Fire alarms sounded and Tarleton Police officers were summoned Monday, shortly after noon, as a room fire broke out on the second floor of Centennial Hall.

According to the police report, Sgt. Clell Murray was the first to arrive at Centennial. Murray was unable to use his card to open the inner door to the stairs. He went back for the master key but could not locate the correct key to enter the building. He then forced the inner door open to get to the second floor.

According to the police report, Murray located the room, smelled burning and noticed a haze of smoke in the hallway outside the room. Murray kicked the door open to gain entry.

The report said there was thick smoke in the room and the smell of something burning.

Murray then determined the source to be a toaster that was still warm with a burnt piece of potato still in it.

According to Murray's report, the fire units arrived at Centennial and used a thermo camera to scan the room and make sure that there was no other source of heat to cause the smoke.

Tarleton Chief of Police, Justin Williams, said there was no damage to the room and that it was only smoke.

The Control Center was contacted regarding the reason for the malfunction of Murray's key card. A Control Center representative said they think the system shut down as a result of the fire.

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