By Khalida Sarwari
Two indoor signs were intentionally set on fire at a building at San Jose State University this morning, a fire spokeswoman said.
Several people at Dudley Moorhead Hall, a social sciences building, reported the fires around 7:30 a.m., fire Capt. Mary Gutierrez said. About 25 firefighters arrived five minutes later, she said.
The first sign was on the wall in a landing area between the first and second floors, and had been extinguished by someone using a fire extinguisher.
The second one was in a second-floor hallway outside classrooms and had “self-extinguished” after burning the paper on the sign, Gutierrez said.
She said the top of the sign read, “Interdisciplinary Social Sciences.”
Firefighters aired out smoky hallways on the first and second floors, Gutierrez said.
Roughly 150 students had evacuated from the building, but no one was injured, she said.
The fires caused an estimated $200 in damage, mostly to the signs themselves and to the paint on the concrete walls.
Investigators believe someone lit the signs on fire on purpose.
“Billboards just don’t catch on fire,” Gutierrez said. “There’s no ignition source.”
Because San Jose State University is a state school, Cal Fire will investigate the fire, along with the university’s Police Department, Gutierrez said.
In November 2009, there were three arson fires on campus, all at Joe West Hall, a high-rise dorm. On Nov. 3, a piece of paper was set on fire and on Nov. 12, fires burned in two trash cans.
