Two separate fires recently left a Nelson Clinic maintenance worker injured and a Gladding Residence Center apartment damaged, a fire official said.
The Nelson Clinic fire started at a seventh-floor electrical panel around 9:30 a.m. Monday, said Lt. Keith Vida of the Richmond Fire Department.
A maintenance worker suffered flash burns as a result, Vida said. The worker’s injuries were not life-threatening.
Vida said firefighters extinguished the fire in eleven minutes.
Two days earlier, a fire damaged apartment No. 437 at Gladding Residence Center, Vida said. No one was injured, and the sprinkler system put out the fire before firefighters arrived.
“My understanding is that there was a cooking accident, and the sprinkler activated, and that made a major difference in keeping the fire contained to that one apartment,” Vida said.
Jane Grassadonia, director of housing and residence education, said the Phase 1 apartment was damaged by smoke as well as water from the sprinklers. She said she could not estimate how much the damage would cost to repair.
Water also damaged the third-floor apartment below, she said. Students in the affected apartments were temporarily relocated to other GRC apartments.