Dorm fire freezes freshmen

A small fire caused 450 students to be evacuated from the "A" tower of Forest Quad Wednesday morning.\nThe fire started around 2:15 a.m. in the 10th floor kitchen because of a grease pan that was left on the stove.\nForest resident freshman Alison Hawhee heard the fire alarm and thought it was a joke at first. Earlier, after the IU vs. Maryland basketball game, students in the "B" tower pulled the alarm. Because of the timing of the second alarm, Hawhee said she knew this alarm was not a prank.\n"We could smell the smoke, and then we knew it was serious," she said.\nFreshmen and 10th floor occupants Nicole Beemsterboer and Alyssa Fisher were up when the alarm went off and they did not see any smoke, yet they had smelled something unusual beforehand. \n"I thought it was a drill until our RA jumped out of her room and yelled for everyone to get out," Beemsterboer said.\nFisher and Beemsterboer had humorous feelings about the events of the night. \n"I didn't get to finish my Spanish homework. It was sad," Fisher said.\nBeemsterboer said she felt her resident assistant handled the situation well.\n"The way the RAs handled it was awesome. They were very serious and handled it like professionals. I felt safe," Beemsterboer said. \nAnother 10th floor resident freshman Shanna Heverly was half asleep when the sound of the fire alarm woke her up. In a hurry, she saw the smoke and grabbed her clothes then ran towards the stairs. \n"I didn't really know what was going on," she said. "It didn't register because I was half asleep. You didn't have time to think, just run down the hall."\nAs students sped down the numerous staircases of the 11-story building, they found themselves outside in the cold, dark night. \nOnce outside all 450 residents waited in the front lawn for about 20 to 30 minutes in freezing conditions, some only in T-shirts, shorts and no shoes. \nFreshman Allison Kaston was lucky enough to grab shoes and a coat. In an act of kindness she gave her shoes to a fellow Forest resident. \n"Being a Good Samaritan really sucks…I didn't think we'd have to stay outside as long as I though we did. It was cold," Kaston said. \nHawhee said she was not prepared for the cold. \n"We were all wearing shorts because it was so hot in our rooms," Hawhee said. "(When we got outside) my legs were pink and blue." \nAfter close to a half an hour, the students were allowed to go into the center building for a little warmth. Most waited patiently for approximately 45 minutes until everything was clear.\nWhen they returned to their rooms, 10th floor residents found their hall and rooms to be smoky and smell bad. Many students like Heverly found it hard to fall asleep after everything. \n"It was hard to fall asleep after so much excitement in an hour," she said.\nMost students said they were thankful no one was hurt and everything turned out okay.\n"I was surprised everyone got out so fast," Heverly said. "I am thankful to know the alarms were so loud and no one slept through it"