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2 charged in MVSU dorm fire
State fire marshal looking into Wednesday blaze, failure of university's fire alarms
The Associated Press
GREENWOOD ? Two women were charged with arson for the dorm fire at Mississippi Valley State University last week, officials said.
Maria Johnson, 22, of Itta Bena and Tiffany Hall, 22, of Greenwood were arrested in connection with the fire that broke out on Wednesday.
An arson charge carries a penalty of five to 20 years in the state penitentiary.
"The arrests were made by our (campus) police in connection with our investigation," Roy Hudson, vice president of university relations, said Saturday afternoon.
The fire started between midnight and 1 a.m. Wednesday in a first-floor room and spread to a room immediately above in the two-story brick building.
Two adjacent first-floor rooms also were severely damaged.
The damage was limited to four rooms ? two completely destroyed, the others severely damaged.
Students in the dorms said fire alarms failed to go off and it was left up to dorm residents to alert those still sleeping about the blaze.
Two students were treated and released from Greenwood Leflore Hospital for smoke inhalation.
The state fire marshal is investigating the fire and the failure of the fire alarm system.
The school helped students clean their clothes after the fire and university insurance likely will cover any property the students lost.
It could be Saturday before the 88 students displaced by the fire are back in the dorm, said Gerald Peoples, vice president of student affairs.
Only certain buildings on campus have sprinkler systems. There isn't one in College Hall 1 because it's one of the oldest buildings on campus, Peoples said earlier this week.
He said the university tests the alarms, and fire drills are conducted on campus.
State fire marshal looking into Wednesday blaze, failure of university's fire alarms
The Associated Press
GREENWOOD ? Two women were charged with arson for the dorm fire at Mississippi Valley State University last week, officials said.
Maria Johnson, 22, of Itta Bena and Tiffany Hall, 22, of Greenwood were arrested in connection with the fire that broke out on Wednesday.
An arson charge carries a penalty of five to 20 years in the state penitentiary.
"The arrests were made by our (campus) police in connection with our investigation," Roy Hudson, vice president of university relations, said Saturday afternoon.
The fire started between midnight and 1 a.m. Wednesday in a first-floor room and spread to a room immediately above in the two-story brick building.
Two adjacent first-floor rooms also were severely damaged.
The damage was limited to four rooms ? two completely destroyed, the others severely damaged.
Students in the dorms said fire alarms failed to go off and it was left up to dorm residents to alert those still sleeping about the blaze.
Two students were treated and released from Greenwood Leflore Hospital for smoke inhalation.
The state fire marshal is investigating the fire and the failure of the fire alarm system.
The school helped students clean their clothes after the fire and university insurance likely will cover any property the students lost.
It could be Saturday before the 88 students displaced by the fire are back in the dorm, said Gerald Peoples, vice president of student affairs.
Only certain buildings on campus have sprinkler systems. There isn't one in College Hall 1 because it's one of the oldest buildings on campus, Peoples said earlier this week.
He said the university tests the alarms, and fire drills are conducted on campus.
