North Texas Daily

Staff Reports

The newly built Rawlins Hall flooded Saturday night when a sprinkler was activated in a resident’s room on the first floor, displacing 36 students, university officials said.

People in the facilities department still do not know what happened to cause the sprinkler to be set off at about 10:15 p.m. Saturday. On Wednesday, UNT spokeswoman Margarita Venegas said the incident is still under investigation.

Rooms and the hallway were still being aired out Wednesday. Residents on the floor were relocated to other rooms and will be able to move back once a long-term assessment is completed.

“The sprinkler went off for about an hour and collected an inch of water,” Venegas said. “The water seeped into the hallway and collected in 17 other rooms, affecting 18 rooms total.”

Rawlins was built in 2015 and opened to house honors students last fall. Named after the former UNT president V. Lane Rawlins, it cost the university $37 million.

The cost of the damages was unknown as of Wednesday night.

During spring 2o15, the A wing of Kerr Hall flooded when two students decided to cook s’mores with a lighter in their room. The incident affected more students than the flood at Rawlins. About 120 Kerr residents had their original room assignments changed.

“They need to make sure there is no mold before anyone moves back in,” Venegas said. “There are still no answers as to what caused the sprinklers to go off. The frustration still continues. Students should be back in their rooms next week sometime.”