by Andrew Alonzo | aalonzo@claremont-courier.com

A Wednesday evening second-floor dorm room fire at Harvey Mudd College’s Atwood Residence Hall caused no injuries but displaced 35 students.

Los Angeles County Fire Department, the City of Claremont, and Claremont Police Department responded to the blaze at 7 p.m. The fire was extinguished at 7:35.

“The source of the fire has been identified as an electric skateboard battery,” Harvey Mudd President Harriet B. Nembhard wrote in a statement Thursday. “In the coming weeks, as we assess this situation and our collective response, we will be discussing what steps we can take to minimize the risk of these types of fires.”

Officers from CPD, The Claremont Colleges Campus Safety Department, and staff from Mudd’s Division of Student Affairs and Facilities and Maintenance teams assisted in responding and damage assessment, according to HMC.

Harvey Mudd’s Division of Student Affairs worked to provide accommodations for students impacted by the fire.

“We provided alternative accommodations for the displaced students and for one live-on staff member and offered support resources to any student who was shaken by this event,” Nembhard wrote. “Other Atwood residents whose rooms were not impacted were allowed to return to the residence hall at around 11 p.m. [January 21] after we received clearance from the fire department and city inspectors. Multiple rooms in the northeast corner of the building have been closed, and we are working with students to make alternative arrangements for housing until repairs can be completed.”

In the wake of the emergency, Karl Haushalter, the college’s vice president for academic affairs, contacted faculty to request flexibility regarding late or missed coursework from students impacted by the fire.

“We want to ensure that our students are free to focus on their immediate safety and well-being without any added academic anxiety,” Nembhard wrote.

The college and City of Claremont were “assessing the building to determine which rooms are not habitable,” according to HMC.

HMC spokesperson Judy Augsburger said it could take almost five weeks to complete repairs.