Smoke forces student to hotel

BY MONIKA KREBER

Among them was sophomore mass communication major Kathryn Scott.

Scott, who has already struggled with difficulties with mold causing problems in her room, moved out with her roommate to spend the night at a Holiday Inn on Dave Lyle Boulevard.

“Holiday Inn was so nice to give us a discount for $44, and we split it,” she said. “I don’t know what I’m going to do about tonight.”

Scott said she has a condition called chronic sinusitis, which gives her intense sinus infections and makes it necessary for her to live in a controlled environment with ventilation. She said she never actually saw the flames, but could see smoke and water pouring from the windows of Bancroft as firemen dealt with Owens on Saturday night.

“I took a walk so I could get some fresh air, and when I came back there was a fire truck with a cherry picker right outside of our window,” she said. “They were over Margaret

Nance trying to shoot water into Bancroft.”

Scott said she is not the only dealing with physical issues concerning the smoke, including people without allergies.

“I know a lot of people went to friends’ houses,” she said. “My roommate was having trouble breathing anyway and she doesn’t have any allergies.”

Freshman Keenan Fisher and her roommate, freshman Hannah Pruett, woke up from a nap Saturday afternoon to the smell of the smoke.

Their room on the third floor of Margaret Nance near Owens was filled with fumes from the burning roof at Owens.

"It smelled so bad," said Pruett, an environmental science major. "I thought someone had burnt something really bad on our floor."

Fisher said no one came around to the rooms in Margaret Nance to notify them of what was happening. Signs were posted on the doors exiting the building though, she said.

"We tried to walk out of the side door, and there was red caution tape," Fisher said.

Fisher said she tried to go back to sleep but couldn't because the smell of the smoke was strong.

"I was just laying there, not moving around a lot or anything," she said, "and I was coughing a lot."

Scott said she has “zero” communication with Winthrop right now, and that residents in Margaret Nance had not been ordered to evacuate. While she was still in the residence hall she said she tried to get help and information from Resident Assistants.

“I know one of the RAs was trying to get me out of the building because she knows about the mold and allergy situation,” she said. “It’s just frustrating. She said nothing is going to happen to (my) stuff, but you can’t guarantee something like that.”