By Laurie Babinski
Editor in Chief
An electrical fire at the Center for Communication and Business, now nearing completion after more than a year of construction, injured one worker and shut down Seaver Drive between main campus and President’s Drive for two hours Wednesday.
The fire was reported to the Department of Public Safety at 9:59 a.m. in a panel inside the center’s Department of Public Safety wing. It was contained to the panel area, but smoke was seen billowing from a side door. Traffic was diverted as L.A. County fire stations 70, 125 and 88 as well as Battalion Chief 5 responded along with DPS to contain the fire.
According to Carin Chapin, assistant director of the Pepperdine University Office of Public Relations and News, Southern California Edison also responded to the incident and capped the electrical feed to the project. Power to the School of Law was shutdown for about 10 minutes.
The injured man, a worker from Mac Electric subcontracting, was airlifted to UCLA Medical Center with burns to his hands, Chapin said. The condition at press time was not known, but his injuries were not life threatening.
The Department of Public Safety and the L.A. County Fire Department later said the building did not sustain any major structural damage. According to the Office of Public Relations and News, DPS and Mac Electric workers disconnected temporary power feeds into the building to prevent further incident.
General contractor Millie and Severson performed an initial damage survey, Chapin said. The survey said that damage was confined as designed to electric room 187 in the DPS wing, but adjacent rooms will be checked for potential damage.
The California Occupational Health and Safety Administration, OSHA, has been notified.
According to the Office of Public Relations and News, Millie and Severson are awaiting the OSHA inspection before initiating a more comprehensive damage survey.
“Our prayers are with the injured worker and his family,” the Office of Public Relations and News said in an e-mail statement.
The building is still scheduled for completion in April. The Business and Communication Divisions will move to their new home in June.
February 14, 2002