This morning at 7:02 AM, Holland firefighters and police officers were dispatched to a reported building fire at the Hope College DeWitt Student and Cultural Center. Hope Campus Safety was investigating a waterflow alarm and discovered smoke in the basement. When firefighters arrived, at 7:08 AM, they found a fire had occurred in an office located in the basement of the center. The fire was extinguished by the building’s fire suppression system. An investigation was conducted by the Holland Fire Marshal, and it was determined that the fire likely originated near a desktop light.
There were no injuries to occupants or the responding firefighters. Due to the fire protection system and salvage and overhaul efforts by fire crews, the fire had minimal impact on classes and normal operations in the building.
This is the second fire in Holland within 48 hours that was extinguished by a building sprinkler system. Just before midnight on February 8th, The Holland Fire Department was notified of a waterflow alarm that was upgraded to a structure fire at the Resthaven Farmstead. The responding crew found a bag of linens that had caught fire in a kitchen storage area. This fire was investigated and found to have been caused by spontaneous combustion of products within those linens.
These sprinkler systems operated correctly because these organizations maintained them well and they performed as designed. The Holland Fire Department encourages all building owners with sprinkler systems and fire alarms to properly maintain them as designed.
Assistance was provided at each of these fires by the Holland Township Fire Department, the Holland Police Department, and American Medical Response.