WSU Fraternity Damaged By Fire Student Bound By Duct-Tape Rescued; Many Residents Gone For Holiday Weekend

A fire severely damaged a Washington State University fraternity house Saturday morning.

No one was injured, but Pullman firefighters saved a man who had been bound by duct tape and left in a guest room behind a barricade of furniture. About 20 people were evacuated.

WSU officials plan to investigate the fire and the duct-taping incident at the Sigma Nu house, said Al Jamison, associate vice provost for student affairs. The nature of the incident was unclear Saturday, but Jamison said hazing won’t be tolerated.

Jamison learned Saturday the bound man is not a freshman.

“He said it wasn’t that big of thing,” Jamison said. “It’s a typical kind of thing they do to each other.”

The bound man, whose name wasn’t released, is a bit embarrassed by the attention, Jamison said.

“This may be a prank, but it was sure a dangerous prank,” Jamison said.

At a Saturday meeting, Sigma Nu members voted to move into an empty fraternity house around the corner. The building was vacated when another fraternity, Kappa Sigma, lost its charter. Pending inspections, Sigma Nu members will move in temporarily and work to repair their fraternity house, Jamison said.

Pullman Fire Capt. Richard Dragoo said the fire may have been caused by a candle left burning on a windowsill on the third floor.

Firefighters were called at 3:37 a.m. Most of the 60 fraternity members had gone home for the extended Presidents Day weekend. The fire was controlled at 6:45 a.m.

The building has no sprinkler system, fire spokesman Glenn Johnson said. The wing where the fire broke out was built in 1968, before city fire codes required sprinklers, Johnson said. The main wing dates to 1938.

It was the second fire in a month caused by a burning candle in a WSU fraternity house, Dragoo said. The Phi Sigma Kappa house suffered about $2,000 damage in that blaze.

Saturday’s fire was the latest in a string of troubles for the Sigma Nu house. In May 1998, a Sigma Nu member fractured his skull after falling out of a second story window. After the infamous WSU riots, also in May 1998, several Sigma Nu members were identified in a video as participants in a brawl.

Interim Provost Rom Markin said the Sigma Nus are an average fraternity.

“Sigma Nus, to my knowledge, have not caused us an extraordinary cause of concern,” Markin said.

Markin said the university was launching an investigation into fraternity-house safety.

“We will work through our student conduct process and with the national officers of Sigma Nu to investigate this behavior and determine appropriate sanctions,” Markin said.

Ben Schuetz, a junior who lives in the Delta Tau Delta fraternity next to Sigma Nu, fielded calls from Seattle friends who had gone home for the extended weekend.

Schuetz said his neighbors were regular guys who were involved in club sports such as rugby.

“It’s an unfortunate happening,” Schuetz said.

News of the bound student didn’t faze him.

“I know I’ve done it a couple times just for the fun of it, tied someone up and left him there.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.