At 03:20 this morning there was a fire of suspicious origin in a fourth
floor student lounge area of Morrison Dorm on the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill campus.  It was the second fire of the night.  A
trash can fire at 01:30 on the seventh floor resulted in zero damage.

The fourth floor lounge was heavily damaged by the fire and was extinguished
by fire companies using the standpipe system.  There were no injuries and
the smoke detection system functioned properly.  The lounge was located in a
central core enclosed area that houses elevators, kitchens, study rooms, a
lobby, and service rooms.  Student rooms are arranged in suites that open
onto exterior hallways and exterior stairwells.  The dorm is nine stories
high, brick resistive and houses about 900 students.  It is not fire
sprinklered.

Firefighters had difficulty with many students who refused to evacuate and
stayed in their individual rooms or suites.  Follow-up meetings with
university officials will be held to work on the evacuation issue.  The fire
cause investigation continues.

For further information contact:

Fire Marshal Cap Mellon
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        919-969-2006