LED likely cause of small University of Idaho fire

University of Idaho officials have a identified a suspect they believe may be responsible for starting a small fire April 12 in the Administration Building.

Vice President for Infrastructure Dan Ewart said the most likely culprit was an LED bulb. The bulb was one of 66,000 recently installed throughout campus as part of an Avista energy-efficiency program that is estimated to yield savings of more than $355,000 annually to the UI. The university received a $1 million rebate from Avista for taking advantage of the program.

Ewart said a total of 10 LEDs installed this past fall have failed, although the other nine either simply stopped working, had small melting on the ends of the ballasts or had a little smoke coming from them.

“Previously, our experience is when they fail, the light would just stop working,” Ewart said. “But in some cases it does cause sparks or something like that to occur and that’s what we believe occurred in this case. Although until the state fire marshal comes back, we can’t conclusively say that.”

Ewart said a fire alarm sounded around 11:30 a.m. April 12 in the Administration Building and a small fire was discovered in the basement hallway underneath the stage in the building’s auditorium. Ewart said the building was evacuated but firefighters from the Moscow Volunteer Fire Department extinguished the blaze and students and faculty were able to return to the building around 1 p.m. The fire caused only minimal damage.

Ewart said a state fire marshal is investigating the cause of the fire, but the current suspicion is the small fire was ignited by a failed ballast – where the light bulb connects to the fixture – in a light fixture on the basement ceiling of the hallway.

“Whether it’s one, 10 or a thousand, the safety of the people on the campus is our primary responsibility here, so we’re taking this very seriously,” Ewart said.

UI Communications Director Jodi Walker said the university is reviewing the installation of the lights installed, starting with the 10 faulty ones.

Ewart said the university has asked faculty, staff and students to turn off any flickering lights and to report it to university facilities, so the fixtures can be examined.