A tow truck set off an alarm and activated sprinklers in the Hub on Campus Eugene basement, causing residents to evacuate the apartment complex.
Eugene-Springfield firemen, reporting to the scene Friday, August 4, confirmed that an Alpha Towing and Recovery vehicle knocked a sprinkler head off in the Hub’s carpark. And that it set off the apartment’s sprinkler system and fire alarm.
A fire alarm set off instructed residents of The Hub to evacuate the apartment complex. Roughly 70 residents gathered below the apartment.
At around 8:20 p.m., the Eugene-Springfield Fire Department deployed a fire truck outside the car park. At roughly 8:40 p.m., firemen told residents it was safe to return inside the building, before silencing the alarm.
“When the water flows, it sets the alarm off and evacuates the whole building,” said Eugene-Springfield Fire Department Battalion Chief Lance Light, “It proves the system works.”
According to Light, after the incident a contract company with the apartment was en-route to pull the sprinkler head, install a new one, and charge the system back up.
Two members of Alpha Towing and Recovery present at the scene with a vehicle declined to comment on the incident, or confirm that their vehicle had allegedly knocked the sprinkler head off.