A sprinkler head in East Quad’s Hassenfeld Hall was activated on Thursday night, spraying water throughout the hall and flooding several rooms on the fifth floor. 

Though the incident remains under investigation, Director of Public Safety Ed Callahan wrote in an email to the Justice that it is “probably attributed to human involvement.”

When residents throw things in the hallway and hit a sprinkler, they can inadvertently activate or damage it, Director of Community Living Tim Touchette added in an email to the Justice.

“Hall sports, and any other activities that involve jumping and or throwing objects within the residence halls are extremely dangerous and as such are not allowed,” he wrote. “These activities are restricted because they often result in sprinkler heads being compromised similar to the way the sprinkler system in East was damaged. The cost to repair spaces and the disruption to student life is not worth the few minutes of ‘fun.’”

Hassenfeld residents were temporarily relocated as Facilities staff addressed the flooding in the hallways and rooms, according to Callahan. 

Facilities staff from the Operations & Maintenance and Custodial Services departments responded to the scene and shut the water off. They also replaced the broken sprinkler head, cleaned up the water and recharged the sprinkler system that evening, Associate Vice President for Facilities Services Bob Avalle wrote in an email to the Justice. 

“I believe Brandeis handled the situation pretty well,” East Quad resident Ben Wolfe ’20 told the Justice. “They had many people working on drying rooms and the hallway, while DCL did a good job of helping students find temporary housing.”

Wolfe, whose room was one of those flooded, explained that the water reached his hamper which was on the ground, soaking and discoloring some of his clothes. He also lost notebook paper, which became unusable after the incident. 

“The whole situation was an inconvenience, especially considering I had a class at 8 AM the next morning, but only a minor one (at least for me),” Wolfe said, adding that the flooding was worse in some of the other rooms on his floor. “I would definitely understand being more upset if more of my belongings were ruined, which I am sure happened for some people.”

To aid residents whose belongings were affected by the flooding, DCL is working with the University’s insurance and advocating for students who require reimbursements for waterlogged property, Touchette wrote in his email to the Justice. 

“Technically students should carry their own renters insurance, just as you would if you live off campus in an apartment, but we always want to help if we are able to,” he wrote. 

DCL also provided complimentary laundry to students whose clothes or linens were impacted by the flooding, according to Touchette.

“As far as laundry goes, the DCL staff always goes above and beyond to make sure students are comfortable and returned to as normal of a life as quickly as possible, so from time to time we do assist with laundry,” he wrote. 

University Police and the Department of Community Living are investigating the incident to better determine the cause, according to Touchette. Anyone with information on the matter is instructed to contact either department immediately. 

— Abby Patkin