CAMPUS/AREA
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Wednesday, June 10, 1992
3
Anniversary of Hoch fire sparks memories
The History
On June 15, 1991, lightning struck the roof of Hoch Auditorium and started a fire that caused damage to the structure in excess of $13 million. The fire continued to burn for several days after lightning struck.
In preparation for the 1988 Rock Chalk Revue, members of a student musical group practice songs appellapt for their acts in between shows. When the third ball cony was used, Hoch Auditorium seated approximately 4,000 people.
KANSAN file photo
KANSAN file photos
(Top) Students watch as the upper portions of the west wall of Hoch Auditorium are des-ided because of fears that it might collapse under its own weight. The wall was destroyed last Jus-
(Above) The second floor of Hoch Auditorium and its balcony are covered with fallen support beams and debris. The fire reached such extreme temperatures that the steel support girders turned soft and bent under their weight. Today, much of the debris still stays to be removed.
By Chris Moeser Staff Writer
University of Kansas police Sgt. Randy Kern had no idea what to expect as he approached Hoch Auditorium.
He was responding to a report that lightning had hit a building on campus.
It seemed routine for Kansas in June. He had responded to similar calls in his 12 years on the force.
It was pouring rain. Bolts of lightning crushed through the sky.
But this was different. He could smell smoke as he walked up to the double oak doors of the building. Kern figured a nearby tree had been hit.
He entered the building,walked past the balcony into the center of the auditorium and looked up.
What he saw he will never forget.
"It looked like the sun was on the roof." he said.
The Hoch fire was one year ago Monday.
And it erupted into one of the biggest fires in Lawrence since Quantrill burned the city to the ground in 1863 to protest the town's anti-slavery views.
It didn't sink in right away what was happening, Kern said.
"For a second, it was so overwhelming you didn't realize what was going on," he said.
When it did sink in, Kern and Rick Johnson, another KU police officer, on the scene, scrambled through the first two floors of the building, looking for anyone who might be inside and unaware that the roof was on fire.
As firefighters arrived, Kern showed them through the maze of stairwells that lead to the upper floors of the auditorium.
Fire Maj. Bill Brubaker arrived just as the first group of firefighters was
They told one secretary to leave, Kern said.
advancing with hoses.
It was supposed to be Brubaker's day off. He was planning to take his daughter to see the movie "Backdraft."
Just as he was walking out the door with his daughter, he was called to a two-alarm fire at Packer Plastics. He left directly from that fire for the one at Hoch.
Only five firefighters responded initially at Hoch because the department was so busy. There were 10 alarms that day, Brubaker said.
Brubaker knew from the start that firefighters were in for a battle.
"I went inside and looked up at the ceiling," he said. "I knew at that point it was pretty serious. Directly east of the chandelier was a 30-foot circle of fire. In some places you could see through to the attic."
About 30 minutes later, the chandler came crashing to the floor.
"That was a warning that the entire structure was coming down," he said. Firefighters immediately began to leave the building.
Firefighters had to wait to use their metal ladders to get closer to the fire until the lightning stopped.
They were hampered by the weather. The torrential rain slowed the fire department's response time and made life for the firefighters miserable, soaking everything from their coats to the hoses. The extra weight also slowed things down.
"Lightning was zapping everything up there," Brubaker said.
The "spread was pretty amazing for how big the building was," he said. After 25 minutes, the entire building was burning.
Brubaker said that, despite the loss of Hoch, the way in which firefighters coped with the complications of that day instilled confidence within the department.
He recalled how fast the fire spread through the 64-year-old building.
Three of the first five crews on the
scene had been trained only a month before the fire, he said.
"That shows that the training works." he said.
Allen Wiechert, director of facilities planning, watched firefighters that day from Snow Hall. The next day, he began dealing with the logistical problems caused by the fire.
In a period of several hours, the University had lost 7 percent of its classroom space. Fifteen classes in eight subjects that met in Hoch, including sociology and psychology, had to be moved.
The fire also destroyed office space, such as the main offices of KU housekeeping. There also were about 20 graduate teaching assistant offices in the building. Wiechcraed said.
Other damage included the loss of a Steinway piano, the chair robes worn at Vespers, and a chemistry demonstration table that still is buried somewhere in the rubble.
The total losses in the fire are valued at more than $13.5 million, Wiechert said.
After weeks of legislative argument and uncertainty about whether the state could afford to finance Hoch's reconstruction, $186 million in federal disproportionate share funds provided some unexpected revenue. The state allocated the necessary $18 million.
The Future
One year after a fire destroyed Hoch Auditorium, repairs are just
The new Hoch will have lightning rods.
From the outside, Hoch will look the same. The existing facade will remain, and the old red tile roof will be replaced, with one notable exception.
Plans call for the construction of one 1,000-seat lecture hall, two 500-seat lecture halls and one classroom of 200 that can be broken into four classes of 50. he said.
beginning.
The new
Hoch,
scheduled to be completed in 1995, will include a 1,000-seat lecture hall, two 500-seat lecture halls and other class rooms.