Seton Hall Fined Over Fire Plan

The federal government has fined Seton Hall University $12,600 for failing to have a fire plan in place to protect its employees during last January's deadly dormitory fire.

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued three citations against the university last month after a six-month probe into the Jan. 19 fire in Boland Hall that killed three students and injured 58.

OSHA determined that the university did not have a plan for employees including the dormitory's resident assistants to respond safely to fire alarms, and that university officials had not assessed the type of protective gear employees might need during a fire.

The two violations were classified as serious, meaning there was ``a substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result.''

OSHA issued a third, minor violation for Seton Hall's failure to complete a form describing how it would limit workers' exposure to blood and other potentially infectious materials.

Seton Hall officials said they planned to meet with OSHA inspectors next month to develop a plan to pay the fines and institute a new fire-safety plan within the next few weeks.

``We don't anticipate any problems,'' Seton Hall spokeswoman Lisa Grider told The Star-Ledger of Newark in Wednesday's editions.

Resident assistant Dana Christmas of Paterson was severely burned in the fire after responding to the alarm and helping some of the 600 students evacuate.

The serious violations each carry maximum fines of $7,000, and the third citation carries no fine. Seton Hall was allowed to pay 10 percent less on each fine because it has no record of prior violations, OSHA officials said.

The state Department of Community Affairs cited Seton Hall with more than 800 fire-code violations six months ago during an inspection of campus after the fire, primarily for problems such as blocked exits, missing fire extinguishers and unsafe extension cords.

All problems are scheduled to be repaired by the start of the university's classes on Sept. 6, department spokesman E.J. Miranda said.

Resident assistants returned to campus last week for expanded fire-safety training, including lessons on how to put out fires with a fire extinguishers. They also spent a day learning about fire prevention at the Middlesex County Fire Academy.