Fire Damaged Boys Dormitory at Xavier

CHUUK, FSM. May 2, 2005 - A fire broke out in one of the two dormitories at Xavier on May 2, 2005 while students were in their 6th period classes. Nobody was injured in the afternoon flames which fire investigators concluded as caused by electrical grounding of an electric fan. Amidst thick black smoke bellowing from the windows, some courageous senior boys and members of the staff battled the flames. Meanwhile the rest of the 91 boarders formed a line from the Shower House and passed buckets of water to the amateur fire fighters. Together they stopped the flames from spreading to the other dorm and from causing further damage to other lockers and beds.

Preliminary assessment estimate that the fire caused over $9,000 damages in structural and personal property. It burned one locker and damaged a few others, melted aluminum window louvers, burned mattresses, towels and other clothing items. Although the flames caused major smoke damage to much of the dorm that housed over forty male boarders, the other boys' dorm and the faculty rooms on the 2nd floor were undamaged.

How the Xavier community dealt with this crisis was remarkable. That afternoon and the following day everyone worked together to move all the beds and lockers out of the damaged dorm. While the girls helped to clean off the smoke-damaged mattresses and lockers, the senior girls took bags of the boys' clothing to the nearby laundromat to wash them. That evening the Chuukese students and some senior boys agreed to move down to their homes and commute with the girls for the remainder of the school year. The senior boys agreed to move into the gym to free up beds and lockers for the displaced underclassmen.