Iowa State University went to online learning for the days of August 24-25 after a campus fire damaged the university’s power plant, knocking out the cooling system.
With Ames, Iowa, in the throes of a heat wave with heat indexes in the 100s, students were encouraged to head home for the weekend as officials worked to repair the power plant.
The fire started on Thursday morning, Aug. 24, and was eventually extinguished around noon, according to the Des Moines Register. The Ames Fire Department reported that the fire started in the power plant’s basement after an equipment malfunction.
The fire affected all four of the plant chillers, and power was restored by 8:30 the next morning.
“This fire was particularly difficult to fight because the situation changed very quickly as the equipment’s operating oil provided a large fuel source,” according to Ames’ fire chief.
Iowa State’s Facilities, Management, Planning and Management crews restored all four chillers and restored air conditioning to campus residence halls by Thursday evening. In-person classes were expected to resume on Monday.
Dave Lubach is the executive editor for the facilities market.
