Roof construction causes fire at HPER, officials continue to assess damage

University officials are still assessing damage caused to the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation two weeks ago after a fire broke out on the roof of the Wildermuth Intramural Center.  

The fire was accidently caused by construction workers remodeling the roof, the Bloomington Fire Department confirmed.

The blaze, which took more than 50 firefighters three hours to extinguish, resulted after three construction workers used a four-inch wheel grinder to remove steel gutter brackets from the building, according to a report by Fire Prevention Officer Scott Smith.

The grinding is considered “hot ticket work,” and the workers had to observe the area for 45 minutes after the chore was completed.

“The three had taken a short break and upon returning noted smoke coming from the area they had been grinding in,” the report stated.

The workers tried to control the fire with a dry chemical fire extinguisher and two water extinguishers, but the attempts were unsuccessful and the fire department was called.

The fire was able to spread so quickly, the department said, because the structural materials under the construction area were original materials that date back to the time of the building’s construction.

The Wildermuth Intramural Center opened in 1928.

These materials made up what is called an expansion joint, a part of a building that is
designed to safely absorb heat-induced contraction or expansion and absorb vibration. In short, it gives the building some space to move.

In this case, the joint was “boxed in with some decking material” to allow for the movement, which caused what the department called a “chimney effect,” allowing the fire to spread upward quickly.

IU spokesman Mark Land said nobody was injured in the fire, as the intramural center was closed for the construction.

A small number of people who were working inside  the adjacent HPER building were evacuated as a precaution.

Land said the University is continuing the cleanup process and will not know the cost of the damage — or when the building will reopen — until that is complete.  

— Jake New