The fire that permanently displaced 76 Cobb Hall residents last week started after a piece of insulation in the dorm’s attic caught on fire.
The flames caused damage to the attic and fourth floor, resulting in the entire hall being closed for three days.
“A light in one of the showers had some insulation laying right on top of it,” said Billy Mitchell, fire and safety emergency response manager for UNC’s Department of Environment, Health and Safety.
“Over a period of time the heat built up and it caught on fire.”
Mitchell said the Chapel Hill Fire Department arrived on scene at 4:45 p.m. and put out the fire within an hour.
Lisa Edwards, a spokeswoman for the Chapel Hill Fire Department, said UNC was handling the investigation into the fire’s cause.
Fire and smoke damage were limited and no injuries were reported, according to a statement from Chancellor Carol Folt.
The fire’s damage will keep the dorm’s fourth-floor residents out of their rooms for the rest of the year and force them to find a new place to live.
In his 20 years as an employee of the University, Mitchell said he couldn’t remember having to permanently shut down part of a dorm because of a fire.