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COLUMBIA — An unattended *hookah caused a fire on the third floor of a MU fraternity Sunday evening, Battalion Chief Steve Sapp of the Columbia Fire Department said. No one was injured in the fire.
The fire started about 8:41 p.m. in room 305, setting off an alarm at the Sigma Chi fraternity house at 500 S. College Ave. , Sapp said.
As Columbia fire crews were responding to the alarm, a caller from the fraternity reported that there was a fire. About 30 fraternity members and guests were evacuating when crews arrived.
Domnic DeFao, a fraternity member who lives in room 306, was first to see the fire around the windowsill, Sapp said. DeFao attempted to put out the fire with water but could not. Dan *Heger*, another occupant of the house, then found a fire extinguisher on the first floor and used it to minimize flames.
Fire fighters found smoke as they entered the third floor and were drawn to room 305 by heavier smoke and intense heat. Sapp said officials were then able to extinguish the fire below the window in the southwest corner of the room.
The damage is estimated to range from $5,000 to $10,000. Damage includes the window, the sill, areas torn out to check wall studs and personal belongings, Sapp said.
A fatality fire occurred in May 1999 on the same floor of Sigma Chi fraternity house.
Comments
It's "Dominic DeFeo"
Pretty awful way to end an article... very respectful to the family involved 10 years ago. In fact, this article was awful in general. Kaity: Highly suggested you don't denote your *MISTAKES* with asterisks, nor publish them in the first place. Double-check your work, as well as the line of work you've chosen for your *profession* (asterisks denote mistake in choice of profession).
This article was well written. Yes, maybe there were errors throughout the article as there are most likely going to be errors in my comment. But the point is this journalist does a good job at getting the main point across.
Isn't it great how we live in a society today where you expect perfection from a journalist--or anyone? A journalist who is pressured with other obligations not just the deadlines of these articles.
The astericks are clearly used to show that this journalist has realized her errors and has went back and fixed them in hopes to get the facts correct and to please the readers. Are the astericks needed? Not necessarily but she seems to be trying to make a point with them-She isn't prefect.
Well written article don't let this one get you down.
How ironic that dope made somebody into a dope.
They do not call it dope for no reason.
@RinTinTin,
It is our policy to correct errors in online stories with an asterisk. The idea is that it more easily helps readers identify where information had been corrected. You can read our full online corrections policy here: http://digmocorrections.wordpress.com/ab...
Additionally, I'd like to thank Justin J. for his thoughtful comment about the errors made in this article.
Jake Sherlock
Opinion editor
People don't typically smoke 'dope' out of hookahs. It's flavored tobacco that has multiple names, depending what part of the world you're in. Also, smoking 'dope' out of a hookah significantly wastes the product. Any 'dope-head' would know this.
@ Mr. Tin Tin,
Please note that the incorrect spellings and cause were not due to reporting errors on Ms. Kerwin's part. If you are looking to attribute them to someone you can place the blame on me, the assigning editor of the story.
The spellings of the names were originally described in a news release from the Columbia Fire Department.
http://www.gocolumbiamo.com/Public_Comm/...
Ms. Kerwin made multiple attempts utilizing various tools to fact-check the names, including double-checking the names with the fire department which was the deciding factor is continuing with publishing of the story.
During her conversation with fire officials, the cause of the fire was described incorrectly and was later pointed out by a person who lived in the fraternity house. His information was then double-checked with the fire department and confirmed. A similar approach was taken to verifying the correction of the spelling of the names.
While none of this excuses inaccuracies in news reports, such as this, I wanted to give readers a better idea of the effort that Ms. Kerwin exerted attempting to verify this story. As news stories develop, information may change, and in this case it changed dramatically after consultation with the investigating organization.
Informing the community of how its news is reported and edited is an important part of journalism and this conversation is never discouraged with any of our stories. We are always open to hearing from our community.
If you would like to continue this conversation with me, send me an e-mail at ChadSDay@gmail.com.
Thanks,
Chad Day
Assistant City Editor
Thanks for the explanations, editors. Didn't realize all that Kaity had to go through, and certainly didn't stop to think the inaccuracies could have come from elsewhere. Thanks!