Candle warmer caused Lilly fire

A candle warmer in a professor’s office started a fire that caused $10,000 worth of damage in Lilly Hall on Saturday.

The fire started in the office in the basement of Lilly Hall around 5:30 p.m.

Ben Hunter, chief of staff and executive director of public safety, said no one was in the building when the fire broke out, so it was not necessary to evacuate the building.

Hunter said that the building was closed at the time.

When an officer arrived at the building, smoke was visible, so the officer was able to lead the Indianapolis Fire Department to the fire’s location when it arrived on the scene.

Firefighters did not see any flames but saw a hallway filling up with smoke.

Since no one was in the building, Hunter said it was not necessary to send out an alert to students and faculty members.

“If we feel like there are people in danger, of course we would send something out,” Hunter said. “But fortunately it was all taken care of rather quickly.”

Original reports estimated that there were roughly $5,000 in damages. However, Rich Michal, executive director of facilities, now estimates that this number will be double.

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