By Khalida Sarwari and Dan McMenamin
Firefighters evacuated a high-rise residence hall at San Jose State University this morning due to two small fires on the building’s fifth and seven floors.
One fire was reported around 9 a.m. on the seventh floor of Joe West Hall, home to about 500 students. A student had noticed a fire burning in a trash can and attempted to extinguish it, university spokeswoman Pat Lopes Harris said.
The fire was controlled at about 9:40 a.m.
The student suffered a minor injury while removing a fire extinguisher from its case, Harris said.
Another small fire was reported on the fifth floor of Joe West Hall. Harris said she did not yet know what was burning in that fire, which was controlled by 9:55 a.m.
As of about 10:45 a.m. the building remained evacuated. Firefighters were working to clear out smoke from the residence hall.
Investigators are still trying to determine how the fires started.
Joe West Hall was briefly evacuated on Nov. 3 after a housekeeper smelled smoke and pulled a fire alarm. The smoke was traced to a burning piece of paper.