Purdue News

September 1, 1999 Five vehicles damaged in Purdue parking garage fire WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Five vehicles sustained damage in a mid-morning fire today (Wednesday, 9/1) on the top ramp of the University Street Parking Garage at Purdue. Purdue Fire Department personnel were dispatched about 9:20 a.m. when a call came in from a campus emergency telephone system call box in the garage. The driver of a car that initially caught fire was treated at the Purdue Student Health Center for minor burns on one hand. Purdue police Capt. Ronald J. Fosnaugh said Tricey C. Wilks, 20, a junior in the School of Liberal Arts from West Lafayette, was waiting in her 1989 Pontiac Grand Am for a parking spot to open up. She told him she was to participate later in a candlelight vigil, and she briefly lit a candle while waiting and put it in the car's console. It somehow ignited the dashboard. She was unable to put out the fire by herself. Her car was damaged extensively. A car and a sport-utility vehicle parked nearby also were heavily damaged. A car and a pickup truck parked on either side of the other vehicles sustained minor damage. A damage estimate was not immediately available. Source: Capt. Ronald J. Fosnaugh, (765) 494-8221 Writer: Greg Zawisza, (765) 494-2086; home, (765) 463-9119; greg_zawisza@purdue.edu Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu To the Purdue News and Photos Page