New UM dorm evacuated after pipe bracket falls

ORONO – Officials at the University of Maine evacuated residents from a new 200-person dormitory Saturday night after a water pipe bracket dropped from the ceiling.

No one was injured in the incident.

Around 6 p.m. Saturday, students in the dormitory called UM Public Safety to report a problem in a first-floor hallway, according to university spokesman Joe Carr.

A fastener gave way on a U-shaped bracket used to hold water and steam pipes above the ceiling, causing the bracket to drop through the ceiling, Carr said. The break caused the pipes to sag and four other brackets broke, along with a number of ceiling tiles.

The water pipes remained intact and the building had no structural damage during the incident, according to Carr.

The three-floor residence hall was evacuated and 75 to 100 students asked to be relocated. They were taken to the vacant Balentine Hall on Saturday night, while the remainder of the residents found other housing or weren’t on campus when the incident occurred, Carr said.

Employees from facilities management built temporary supports for the pipes, and crews arrived Sunday morning to repair the bracket, Carr said.

All but 21 students on the first floor were expected to move back into their rooms Sunday evening, Carr said. The remaining students were offered space at Balentine Hall for a second night so crews could finish repairs Monday.

As a result of the incident, engineers inspected all of the brackets similar to the one that failed and they will be replaced, Carr said.

Referred to by some students as the “new residential complex” or NRC, the $9 million residence hall on the Long Road opened in January.

The 54,000-square-foot facility features 116 single bedrooms and 41 double bedrooms among four-person apartments, each with a kitchen living room and bathroom.