The 27-story Pearce-Ford Tower dominates the Bowling Green skyline. The 23rd floor has suffered damage recently because of flooding from the sprinkler system and a fire in a kitchen which police say is arson. Photo by Clinton Lewis

Western Kentucky University police are looking into the possibility that fires in Pearce-Ford Tower this week were set by the same arsonist who set several fires in Florence Schneider Hall last spring. Its being investigated, said Bob Skipper, Westerns media relations director. Theres no way of telling right now. The most serious of the fires was set in a kitchen trash can on the 23rd floor of PFT at about 1:30 a.m. Tuesday. The fire caused some damage to a cabinet and a wall before the sprinkler system put it out. The dorm was evacuated and students were allowed back in at about 8 a.m. Tuesday. The sprinkler system doused the flames, but it also caused some water damage, including shutting down the elevators in the 27-floor dorm until water could be removed from the shaft. The important thing is the fire was put out and no one was hurt, Skipper said. Richard Story, assistant chief for the Bowling Green fire department, said it was lucky PFT had a sprinkler system. Any fire itself is not going to amount to much as long as the sprinklers work, Story said. But theres always that chance something will go wrong. Story said it costs the fire department several thousand dollars to respond to calls such as this one. Jamie Shumate, a freshman from Nashville, Tenn., lives on the 23rd floor. She took her time getting out because the dorm has had six fire drills this month, including three in the 24 hours before Tuesday mornings fire. It was getting really old, Shumate said. She saw black water seeping through the hall from under the kitchen door. When she got outside, water was pouring out of the kitchen window. At 2:30 a.m., they were told to find a hotel. When the students returned, they found the floor flooded. Anything on the floor was damaged by the water. The floor reeks, Shumate said. This is just ridiculous. WKU police were in the building most of the day interviewing residents and trying to find some leads as to who may have set the fires, Skipper said. The university is also offering a $2,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever set the fire. A damage estimate has not been determined, Skipper said. Officials also found burned paper towels in the seventh floor kitchen trash can that was self-extinguished. These fires follow three others that were set in the trash chute since Feb. 15, the latest at 6:47 p.m. on Monday, according to Skipper. These fires were not reported on the online police report from the WKU police. Skipper said the trash chute fires were not reported because they were not considered arson. Brandon McGrew, a sophomore from Athens, Ala., who lives on the 16th floor, said he heard that someone was throwing toilet paper that was on fire into the trash chutes. As a result of being booted out of the dorm, McGrew missed one class Tuesday morning. There was no way I was getting up, McGrew said. Brandyn Clough, a Hopkinsville junior who lives on the 22nd floor, said he is considering moving to another dorm, and he at least wants to move to a lower floor. Its getting pretty ridiculous, Clough said. Jennifer Dalby, a freshman from Tulsa, Okla., who plays on the womens soccer team and lives on the sixth floor, said the fire alarms have been going off for the last three weeks. Tuesday morning, she slept on the floor of Poland Hall in a football players room. Dalby said the whole soccer team wont be living in PFT next semester. You cant expect athletes to perform well without sleep, Dalby said. Dalby said the soccer team went to a meeting at 6 a.m. Tuesday in their pajamas with pillows in tow. Nicole Thomason, freshman from Hendersonville, Tenn., who lives on the 23rd floor, said she is thinking about moving out of PFT.We shouldnt have to worry about being safe because people are being irresponsible, Thomason said.