At 5:20 p.m. on Feb. 18, 2009, a Lorain County Community College (LCCC) security officer responded to a fire alarm in the school's business center. He soon discovered that a fire had been set in the tunnel beneath the building by a student.
The resulting blaze took four hours to extinguish and caused approximately $1 million in flame and smoke damage to the business building, as well as several other structures connected by the campus underground tunnel system. The campus was closed for seven days so work crews could clean up the buildings and move classes and offices.
In our latest podcast, Campus Safety magazine talks with LCCC Director of Campus Security Keith Brown about the lessons he and his department learned as a result of this incident. Topics covered include evacuations, emergency notification, incident command, traffic control cooperation with other agencies, managing the media, disaster recovery, business continuity and apprehending the alleged arsonist.
To listen to the podcast, click on the green "play" button below. Also, view a photo gallery related to the incident.