Fire clears Pharmacy building
A noontime fire sparked by hot roofing tar atop the Pharmacy building yesterday left some students to finish their exams in the street after the building was evacuated.
No one was injured in the 11:57 a.m. blaze, but university police and Tucson Fire Department firefighters kept the building clear until 1:45 p.m. to ensure that the smoldering tar did not re-ignite, said Cmdr. Brian Seastone of the University of Arizona Police Department.
"UAPD was here first and started the evacuation," said TFD Capt. Brian Delfs. "The fire started in a vent on the roof, and there was also a fire in a utility closet."
Employees of Roberts Roofing Company were working atop the building, at 1703 E. Mabel St., and assisted police and firefighters after the flames had been extinguished.
"It appeared to be tarring on the roof," Seastone said. "The tar caught on fire because of the heat."
The fire posed a different difficulty for students in Jolaine Draugalis' pharmacy research techniques class.
They had to finish a midterm outside on the sidewalk.
"It basically ruined our concentration," said Jeannette Glock, a second-year phar-macy student. "You can imagine what it would like to take a test out here with all the wind."
Draugalis, assistant dean of the College of Pharmacy, said she will make "special dispensations" if necessary.
"Once I had a fire drill in a lecture, but this is the real McCoy," Draugalis added.
Liz Dailey can be reached via e-mail at Liz.Dailey@wildcat.arizona.edu.
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