Last Tuesday, April 19, the fire sprinklers of floor three Clemens were accidentally triggered in the afternoon. A fire alarm sounded as a result and students were forced to evacuate Griesedieck Complex.

Although the sprinklers were set off on the third floor, the water caused damage on floors below as well.

"The flood affected two floors of student rooms, two staff ro-oms, a maintenance closet and a

stairwell, damaging an extensive amount of both personal and Universit-y property," said Assistant Director of Housing and Residential Life Deanna Kauffman.

Students in the affected rooms are still filling out insurance claims and assessing the damages; therefore the total cost of damages is not yet known. There will be an initial $300 fine for tampering with fire equipment.

"Generally, when an incident like this occurs, the University's office of risk management is involved, and if it is determined that the student is responsible for the damage, then the student bears the burden of all costs," said Kauffman.

If the student is found responsible, then it his up to the student's parents to look into homeowner's insurance coverage for the damage incurred.

Freshman Kyle Mayeron was the resident that accidentally triggered the sprinklers while playing a game of darts with a dartboard that was suspended from the sprinkler.

"I was playing darts in my friend's room while he was down the hall and I accidently missed and nailed the sprinkler," said Mayeron. "I had four bulls-eyes before that, but that doesn't really matter now."

After the sprinkler was activated, Mayeron attempted to stop the flow of water.

"The wall just exploded with water. I tried to cover it with a towel, but I was knocked down from the force," Mayeron said. "So I grabbed all of the computers and electronics, and tried to move them away from the water."

The water quickly flooded the hall and seeped down to the second floor, affecting more rooms.

"The water was brown and pretty nasty, and there was about three inches on the floor," Mayeron said.

This is not the first time an incident like this has occurred at SLU. Kauffman recollected a time when the sprinklers at DeMattias were accidentally activated by a football. In this incident, the damage totaled more than $5,000.