University Daily Kansan / Wednesdav. June 19, 1991
Hoch Fire: The Aftermath
9
Schools assess damage
By Cathy Garrard Kansan staff writer
Although Hoch Auditorium generally was not thought of as a storage area, some KU campus buildings were located their losses in Saturday's fire.
Judy Keller, development director of KANU radio station, said the fire created a public emergency for the station.
Although the station broadcasts from Broadcasting Hall, which is behind Marvin Hall, damages to equipment and records stored in Hoch Audio-Technology estimated at $60,000, she said.
Keller said the station's archives, which dated back 39 years, were stored in the southwest corner of the second floor, along with all equipment not used regularly. Membership records are stored on computer files and were not ruined.
"We are trying to take an inventory of what was lost and what needs to be replaced first." Keller said.
The School of Fine Arts also stored equipment in Hoch.
Charla Jenkins, director of public relations for KU performing arts, said the school suffered devastating losses.
Jenkins said a Steinway grand piano was destroyed, which would cost from $30,000 to $50,000 to replace. Also, several hundred choir robes traditionally used for the Christmas choral performance, Vespers, were destroyed.
The original organ pipes installed in Hoch also were ruined, she said.
"We were hoping to move them when the renovation began," Jenkins said. "They weren't playable, but it would have been nice to have them for historic value."
Tom Hutton, associate director of news and public relations with the office of University relations, said the band equipment normally stored in Hochstetler on loan to visiting band camps.
The housekeeping department of facilities operations did not suffer losses as other KU departments did.
Phil Endacott, associate director of housekeeping, said the department was fortunate its offices were on the first floor.
"Our offices were in the lobby area on the east and west ends of the building," Endacott said. "There is a masonry wall that protected us from the fire damages. Our doors were burned through, but the fire did not enter. We were within inches of being totally destroyed."
Hoch reduced to limestone walls
By Jeff Meesey and Rochelle Olson Kansas staff writers
Officials say fire caused $12.8 million in damages
Kansan staff writers
The fire that gutted Hoch Auditrium on Saturday afternoon caused more than $12.8 million in damage to the building. Jawhack Boulevard, said KU police.
Rich Barr, Lawrence fire marshal,
said the department received a call
that Hoch was on fire about 3:20 p.m.
when her cars arrived within a few
minutes.
Five firefighters immediately entered the burning building and attempted to extinguish the fire on the third floor balcony. Barr said.
He said the firefighters were working on the building when parts of the road became muddy.
At 3:55 p.m. the roof collapsed, Barr said.
Arlan Maltyt, Lawrence graduate student, said the fire was spectaculair.
"The center went first and a ball of
flowers shot out of it." Matheny
The fire was declared under control about 7 p.m. Saturday.
A fire is considered under control when its progression has been stopped, it is contained and it is not a threat to other buildings. Bar said.
Because of the intensity of the blaze, fire departments from Overland Park, Shawnee, Lenexa, Wakarama Towns, and Brownsburg Township were called to help.
Barr said up to nine fire trucks were on the scene during the fire.
KU police officer Burdell Welsh
control of hoch was turned over
to KU in 2014.
Maj. Ralph Oliver, assistant director of KU police, said lightning had been declared the cause of the fire
Mike McClure, Overland Park senior, said he saw a lightning bolt strike the building
McClure said the lightning hit the center of Hoch's roof.
The flash was so bright that McClure and several classmates had to look away after it struck.
"We were blinded for a couple of seconds," he said. "I knew immediately that Hoch had a 95 percent chance of going down."
'We were blinded for a couple of seconds. I knew immediately that Hoch had a 95 percent chance of going down.'
— Mike McClure Overland Park senior
- Lori Reasoner
Lawrence sophomore
'I remember coming up here when I was young, and I thought it was really cool. I thought I would always come here for Vespers and Rock Chalk.'
McClure said he called 911 to report the fire after he saw smoke coming from Hoch's roof.
He said the operator did not seem to believe him at first.
"They said Yeah, we'll go check it out," McClure said.
Craig Kokesh, Scottsdale, Ariz., senior, was standing in the same area and also saw the strike.
"An hour later, the roof was gone," Kokesh said.
He said he saw white smoke coming from the roof as if it were coming from a chimney.
Liz Blass, Lawrence graduate student, said Hoch was an impressive part of campus.
"I thought, 'This is the worst part about going to school.' "' she said.
Lori Reasoner, Lawrence sophomore, said she cried when she found out Hoch was burning.
She said she remembered standing in the unair-conditioned Hoch for enrollment.
She said she hoped at least the shell of the building could be saved.
"I remember coming up here when I was young, and I thought it was really cool, she said." I thought I needed to be here for Vespers and Rock Chalk.
Bystanders on the front lawn of Strong Hall watch as water pours onto Hoch Auditorium.
Anyone inside could have escaped harm
City and University officials agree that Hoch evacuation would have been smooth
Kansan staff writer
By Rochelle Olson
When Hoch Auditorium burned Saturday it was locked and empty, but lightning could have struck when the building was full.
Rich Barr. Lawrence fire marshal, said people could have had problems leaving the building if the balconies been crowded for a special event
"It would have been difficult because of the number of people it can hold and the rapidity with which the fire spread." Barr said.
But on a regular class day, sufficient exit time would have been available, he said.
ties planning, said people would not have had difficulty exiting Hoch in any situation since the third-floor balcony had been closed.
For second-floor balcony seating, sufficient escape routes existed, he said.
"There were fire alarms and plenty of exits." Wiechert said.
Allen Wiechert, director of facili
Despite having been declared unsafe by state fire marshals more than eight years ago, the third floor balcony was used occasionally between 1982 and October, when it was redeclared unsafe.
The University had planned to add lightning rods as a fire-protection device to Hoch this summer.
'It would have been difficult because of the number of people it can hold and the rapidity with which the fire spread.'
Weichert said the roof was in the
Lawrence fire marshal
process of being restored and the rods would have been installed during the renovation.
Fire protection recently was added to another building on campus.
Lightning rods were placed on Allen Field House when its roof was renovated last semester, Wiechert said.
Hoch's, but it does not have lightning rods on the roof. Wiechert said it would survive a fire better because it did not have a steel frame.
Spooner Hall is the only building on campus with a structure similar to
Below the roof was a 15-foot attic built of heavy wood, he said.
base and was highly combustible, Karr said.
The sealer that was used to adhere the tiles to the roof had a petroleum
"That is a lot of lumber," Karr said.
He said the wood burned quickly and had a high rate of heat release, which caused the failure of the steel trusses that supported the roof.
The temperature must reach 1.500 degrees for the trusses to fail, Karr said
He said that within 20 minutes of the firefighters' arrival, the roof showed signs of a major collapse.
But even if there had been people in Hoch, Karr said he thought they would have had time to leave.
Smoke and flames rise from the roof of Hoch Auditorium as it is seen from the southwest corner of the building.
By Cathy Garrard
GTAs assess fire damage to their offices in Hoch
By Cathy Garrard Kansan staff writer
When Jeff Hanks kicked the door open to his office in Hoch Auditorium yesterday, he was expecting to see the worst.
"I went up there thinking that I'd have nothing left, but I found out that almost everything was intact," said Hanks, a graduate teaching assistant for the department of Spanish and Portuguese.
Hanks' office, in the front of the building on the third floor, was covered by a concrete ceiling that did not burn in Saturday's fire. Hanks said the only damage to his belongings occurred from water, not fire.
"Every book I own is in there." Hanks said. "I also had about 30 to 40 from the library. There was water damage to about 20 books on top of my desk, but the ones on the shelves were fine."
Hanks is one of 20 GTAs from the Spanish and Portuguese department who had offices in Hoch Auditorium. Six of the GTAs are teaching classes this summer. The department of Slavic languages and the center for East Asian Studies also had offices in the building.
"I had a lot of study materials for my exams there, but I kept my
Hanks said neither the fire nor the water damage interfered with his dissertation research.
research on a computer disk at home," Hanks said.
Despite the severe destruction of the building, other GTAs also were feeling lucky that their personal losses were minimal.
Lori Pattison, another GTA for the Spanish and Portuguese department, said she kept many pictures and art books in her office.
"But the most dear to me were several music books that I had collected over the past 10 to 15 years." Pattison said. "There were comments written in them from a woman that I studied with."
Upon inspection, Pattison said the damages to her belongings were not as bad as she originally suspected either.
"The stuff that was really valuable to me was OK," Pattison said. "Things are dirty from the smoke, but they aren't bad. The things that can't have a price tag placed on them are fine."
Audrey Gertz, another GTA with the department, said the situation had an element of irony.
All of the department's GTAs were given temporary offices in Wescoe Hall for the summer because their offices in Hoch did not have air conditioning. But Gert, along with many others, never moved their belongings.