5 students injured in Central State dorm fire

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WILBERFORCE (AP) — A dormitory fire that injured five university students, including one who jumped from a third-story window, was ruled an arson, officials said.

The fire started about 6 a.m. Thursday in a storage room of three-story Hunter Hall at Central State University, according to Xenia Fire Capt. Roy Colbrunn. He said officials went door-to-door to wake students and evacuate the building.

“There was never a situation where we were concerned that someone was not going to get out,” said school spokeswoman Fran Robinson. “But people panicked because the building was on fire.”

Investigators determined the fire was deliberately set due to evidence collected and interviews with students, said Shane Cartmill, a spokesman for the Division of State Fire Marshal. He said the fire began on the second floor and spread to the third, but would not comment on a cause or other specifics of the investigation.

Kentrell Manuel, the student who jumped from the thirdfloor window, said the door to a stairway was hot and he didn’t know how long it would take for rescuers to arrive.

“The smoke was just so thick and so intense that it was intimidating,” he told WDTN television after he was taken to the hospital. “That was a last resort — jump out of a window.”

The dorm houses 180 students. But only 40 to 50 students were in the building at the time of the fire because Thursday was the last day of final exams and most students already had left, Robinson said.

The five were taken to Greene Memorial Hospital, suffering from either smoke inhalation or injuries from fleeing the fire, said spokeswoman Michelle Perry. All were treated then released.

Cartmill said an award of up to $5,000 is being offered for information leading to the identity or identities of the person or people responsible for the fire. The award is funded by the Blue Ribbon Arson Committee of the Ohio FAIR Plan Underwriting Association.

Central State, with an enrollment of 1,900, is about 15 miles east of Dayton.

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