Arson is suspected to be the cause of two trash can fires, which occurred shortly before 4 a.m. Thursday at Owen Graduate Hall, according to MSU police.
There are no suspects in the fires MSU police Sgt. Florene McGlothian-Taylor said.
"The reason this is being investigated as suspected arson is because there were two trash cans that were set afire as opposed to just one," McGlothian-Taylor said.
Both fires occurred in the east wing on the first floor of the building, about 25-50 feet apart.
"One was located in the trash room inside Owen Hall and also there was apparently another fire outside of Owen Hall - they were both in trash containers," University Housing Director Angela Brown said.
Brown added the sprinklers in the dorm went off successfully and extinguished the trash room fire quickly.
"We just had some smoke damage and water damage from the sprinklers in the hall," Brown said.
McGlothian-Taylor said the estimated damage was about $1,000.
While none of the 200 students who had to evacuate the building sustained injuries and only one had to relocate, many were surprised and upset by the alarms going off so early in the morning.
Telecommunication, information studies and media senior Adam Feuerstein went to bed at midnight in preparation for two exams on Thursday, including an 8 a.m. biology test.
The building's fire alarm woke him.
"I woke up and looked out my window to see if there was some blazing inferno," said Feuerstein, who lives on the building's fifth floor.
There wasn't, so he said he went back to bed, but a few seconds later smelled smoke and decided to leave.
While the ignition source has not yet been determined, second floor resident Kara Simonson claimed not to have heard any loud or suspicious noises and thought at first the fire alarm was the result of a prank.
"I'm from a small school in northern Illinois, and we've had the problem of people pulling the fire alarms, so that was the first thing that went through my head," said Simonson, who is a Rockford College student taking part in MSU's Research Experience for Undergraduates program in chemistry.
"I grabbed my blanket, my sandals and my glasses, and on my way out I saw that there was an actual fire and smoke," Simonson said.
Staff writer Ed Ronco contributed to this report.
