A cooking fire broke out on the fourth floor of Eastern Michigan University's Westview Apartments Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025.
After smoke triggered the building's emergency fire suppression system at approximately 11:30 p.m., the Eastern Michigan University Police Department, Huron Valley Ambulance and Ypsilanti Fire Department responded to the scene, said Eastern Michigan's Police Chief Matthew Lige.
Lige also stated that the fire suppression system was successful in terminating the fire.
"The system worked exactly the way it's intended to work," Lige said. "It suppressed a fire in an apartment."
Lige reported that the EMUPD was there to help students evacuate the building and that no one was harmed.
Since the building had conducted a fire drill recently, Graham Gazda, a resident living on the third floor, assumed the fire alarm was real.
“People were coming out in towels with hair still wet," Gazda said, speaking to the urgency of the situation.
While Gazda and other students waited in the parking lot, police, firefighters and building managers went room by room to assess the damage and determine whether it was safe for residents to go back inside.
Around 12:30 a.m., the fire department said it was safe to reenter the building, but residents in a few select rooms had to stay behind and wait; Gazda was one of them.
During this time, Director of Housing and Residence Life Jeanette Zalba was working to relocate the students who could not return to their rooms.
Around 3 a.m., it was decided that Gazda’s room was safe to return to, although there was some water damage. The carpet, a bed and one of the closets were wet from the fire suppression system. Gazda said that some of the rooms next door were in worse condition and that the students living there were relocated.
While Zalba understands that the waiting may have been difficult, she emphasized that it was all to make sure the building was safe to reenter.
The water used to extinguish the fire leaked from the fourth to the first floor and spread across multiple rooms. Items including ceiling tiles, carpets, smoke detectors, electronics and personal belongings were damaged by the fire suppression system.
Because of the extent of the damage, Zalba said that 21 students have been placed in emergency and vacant rooms in Westview, Lakeview and Cornell apartments.
Zalba said the rooms with just water damage might take weeks to repair, while the room where the fire occurred could take months to be fully restored. She also stated that 60 lights will need to be replaced and that the process may take longer than expected due to potential supply chain issues.
Currently, the main focus of the restoration process is to dry everything out. Air conditioning, heat and fans are all being used to expedite the process. Zalba gave no indication of when this process would be finished.
Fans dry the water-soaked carpet on the third floor of Westview Apartments after the fire suppression system was activated during the fire on Oct. 7, 2025.
Zalba said she is happy that everyone is safe and the fire suppression system worked exactly as it was supposed to.
Although fire drills may be inconvenient, Zalba implores students to treat every alarm like it is real.
“Put your shoes on, grab a jacket, grab your keys, whatever you think you’ll need,” Zalba said.
Zalba and Gazda both recommend residents with damaged property check to see if they have insurance that covers the loss of their damaged belongings.
