More FAMU students relocated after fire and water damage at Polkinghorne Village West

Florida A&M University's students continue to face housing challenges after a fire and extensive water damage at Polkinghorne Village West Friday left residents with no choice but to relocate.

FAMU's Office of University Housing moved the students to local hotels following the fourth-floor fire that activated sprinklers.

The water damage affected the rooms of 128 students, according to University Housing Director Jennifer Wilder.

While the first 48 students whose rooms were directly impacted were relocated Friday, the remaining students moved out Sunday.

A report from an investigation made by FAMU's Police Department shows that a student initiated a fire hazard that triggered the sprinklers, which caused flooding of the fourth floor, Wilder said in an email sent to the Democrat Tuesday.

"A student inadvertently put an incense stick that was not totally extinguished in a trashcan, and it caught on fire," Wilder said.

The Tallahassee Fire Department did not receive any calls related to a fire at the residence hall, according to a text message from TFD's public information office. Efforts to determine if FAMU police officers were alerted or responded to the incident from Chief of Police Terence Calloway have been unsuccessful.

Back-to-back housing issues

The incident comes shortly after a pest infestation at FAMU’s Palmetto Phase III Apartments, which led to relocations after complaints were made about roaches in the apartments. Nearly 300 students were moved out of their apartments into local hotels beginning Thursday.

Those apartments were treated Saturday and cleaning continued Monday, Wilder said.

Roach complaints at FAMU apartments: 'Pest infestation' leads FAMU to relocate Palmetto Phase 3 apartment residents to local hotels

The rest of the treatment plan for pest control at the Palmetto Phase 3 apartments consists of a second round of cleaning and baiting Tuesday and a final walkthrough Wednesday. The apartment's residents can expect to return Thursday if the plan continues to stay on schedule.

It couldn't come soon enough for residents like Sydney DeMar, a freshman who shared an Instagram post with a lengthy complaint about her hotel experience.

"When I arrived the door was already open, the room smelled like trash, one bed had used flat pillows and the other bed didn't have any pillows at all," DeMar wrote in a post Saturday. "The room had used cups in the bathroom, full trash bins and dirty floors."

She added that her parents had to pay to get her a room that was clean and safe.

"Students are now living in hotels with more bugs than their campus apartments and are also sleeping in the same bed as their roommates," DeMar wrote in the post.

Polkinghorne damage appears to be extensive

While the number of students from Polkinghorne Village West is not as involved as students affected by the pest problem, they all find themselves in the same boat of dealing with housing issues in the first week of classes.

Wilder's office let students know they “deeply regret the inconvenience” in a message sent out to the residents Friday.

"Environmental Health & Safety ( EHS), Plant Operations Management (POM) and Facilities Construction and Design are working together to repair the damage as expeditiously as possible," Wilder said.

FAMU hits full capacity: With hundreds on the waitlist, FAMU responds to freshman housing crunch with financial aid

Environmental health staff walked all the affected Polkinghorne rooms Saturday and labeled all items recommended for disposal, relocation and cleaning for the students, Wilder said. They also recommended that students wipe underneath some of their items to minimize potential mold issues.

A trailer was placed in front of the Polkinghorne complex for residents to throw away damaged items. In addition, Servpro, a fire and water damage service, is drying out the affected areas and demolishing any walls that are saturated.

Students can expect to move back to the residence hall by Saturday, Wilder said.

Similar to the accommodations to assist the students who experienced the pest problem, students who were left with no choice but to move out of Polkinghorne Village West are provided with the university’s shuttle services and meal plans during their time off campus.

The fire and pest infestation are the latest blow to FAMU's housing department and fall semester move-in. The university continues to deal with an acute housing shortage that has frustrated parents and students who said they only found out at the zero hour that on-campus housing was not available.

Contact Tarah Jean at [email protected] or follow her on twitter @tarahjean_.

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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: More FAMU students relocated after fire, water damage at Polkinghorne