FIRE! at the minor seminary in New Orleans(Covington, LA). All are safe!

St. Joseph Abbey seminarians safe after early morning fire

By Ron Thibodeaux, The Times-Picayune The Times-Picayune
on September 26, 2012 at 10:17 AM

 

St. Joseph Abbey seminarians were all safe, accounted for and only slightly inconvenienced by an early morning fire in a computer room adjacent to their dormitory, the seminary director said Wednesday. Fire broke out in a computer server room at Pius X Hall around 2:30 a.m., and the dormitory was evacuated in a "very orderly, very cooperative" manner, said the Rev. Gregory Boquet, rector of the Catholic seminary north of Covington.

Enlarge Andrew Boyd, The Times-Picayune G. ANDREW BOYD / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE Firefighters from ST. Tammany Fire District 12 check over equipment as they clean up from a fire at St. Joseph's Abbey near Covington, La., September 26, 2012. No one was hurt in the blaze but two dorms were damaged by smoke and a computer server room was destroyed. Fire at St. Joseph's Abbey near Covington gallery (5 photos)

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Fire alarms roused the sleeping seminarians, and everyone in the dormitory rushed outside. From there, they could see smoke coming from the building, Boquet said.
The seminary currently has 105 students in residence, studying for the priesthood. Sixty-four of them, mostly between the ages of 18 and 22, live in the dormitory affected by the fire, Boquet said. They will spend Wednesday night in the abbey's retreat center and likely will be able to return to the dormitory Thursday.
An earlier report of one person being injured due to smoke inhalation from the fire appeared to be overstated. "One person mentioned that his throat was a little sore" from the smoke but he did not require hospitalization, the rector said.
Cause of the fire was under investigation by the State Fire Marshal's Office, which takes the lead on fires that affect religious institutions in the state.

"At this point, nothing suspicious has come to our attention, but it's still too early to come up with a conclusion," Fire Marshal Butch Browning said. "In this situation where no one was hurt, we can give credit to the fact that this facility had a fire detection system, and that gave the early warning. ... That goes a long way in ensuring safety."
The fire occurred in a cinder block room housing the abbey's computer servers. Although the fire was contained to that room, smoke spread into the adjacent dormitory, officials on the scene said. "The computer room is completely incinerated," Boquet said.
However, the abbey is equipped with a back-up computer system -- a lesson learned from the Hurricane Katrina experience of 2005, he said -- so the loss should not cause a significant disruption to abbey operations.
St. Tammany Parish's 12th Fire District responded to the fire. A 911 call was received at 2:42 a.m. and firefighters arrived at the remote abbey 11 minutes later, fire department spokesman James Hartman said.
Sixteen firefighters turned out to battle the blaze, which was brought under control in about 30 minutes, Hartman said.
The fire did not affect the monks in permanent residence at the abbey. Likewise, the abbey's church, famous for its stunning artwork, was not impacted.
News of the fire attracted curious and concerned area residents Wednesday morning to the abbey, which is a significant cultural landmark for St. Tammany Parish. Sheriff's deputies set up a perimeter, cordoning off an area around Pius X Hall, to keep onlookers safely away from the work of the fire investigators.