A busted sprinkler in Billy Kronenwetter’s tenth floor suite in Sullivan Residence Hall caused flooding and damaged the personal belongings of his suitemates, but Kronenwetter’s co-residents aren’t convinced it was all caused by the water.
Tanner Williams, a sophomore in mechanical engineering and Billy Kronenwetter’s suitemate directly across the hall, arrived in his suite Sunday to find not only his room flooded, but also soggy belongings thrown on top of things that should have been unaffected by the water.
“The [Housing staff] said go up there, we have a list of things that were damaged,” Larissa Baransky, a junior in fashion and textile management and Williams’ girlfriend, said. “But, the people who were up there messing with the rooms wouldn’t let him check the damages.”
When Williams and Baransky were allowed in, they found things were damaged that couldn’t have been affected solely by rising water.
“They let us go in the room and it wasnt as flooded [as Kronenwetter’s],” Baransky said. “They [had] piled wet stuff on dry stuff and ruined more things than [the sprinkler could have alone].”
Specifically, Baransky said some of Williams’ belongings were “stuffed in the closet” with wet books on top of them. Williams said the textbooks, which were largely on the ground, were the most expensive thing damaged, but his printer was damaged as well.
“Everything was piled in the closet with wet stuff on top of dry,” Williams said.
Beyond the frustration of having his room damaged, Baransky said Williams was also frustrated about not being informed what was going on by Housing.
“We had just come back from a trip to Williamsburg,” she said. “We found out last that his room was flooded.”
Baransky said only one of the suitemates was notified about the incident, while the others found out by word of mouth.
“It was really unorganized with how they handled everything,” Baransky said. “We had to go chase everyone to get people to tell us [anything]. It was pretty exhausting”
Baransky said much of the water damage was caused by the moving of Williams’ belongings, especially the placement of wet things that were on the floor on top of dry things, including his futon and bed. Baransky cited a dry erase board that was on the ground as evidence of the flood’s watermark, proving much of the damage occurred after the waters subsided.
“There was stuff written on it before and there was a clear line where it was erased,” Baransky said. “There was about a two-inch water line.”
Kronenwetter, a sophomore in mechanical engineering whose room was completely filled with water, said he still didn’t have any information about being reimbursed for damages.
“We haven’t heard anything about compensation,” he said. “I’m still waiting for the fire marshal’s report.”
Kronenwetter said he and his roommate are now living elsewhere in Sullivan, but some of his suitemates were able to stay in their rooms.
“Me and my roommate [are] still together, but we were moved to a different suite,” he said. “Three of them are still in their suites [because] their [rooms weren’t] damaged enough for them to leave.”
While the investigation is ongoing, Baransky was convinced that Kronenwetter didn’t tamper with the sprinkler.
“The people who were cleaning were saying he must have done something,” Baransky said. “Obviously Billy feels bad about the whole thing, but we all know him pretty well. I don’t think he’d be up at 8:30 in the morning trying to whack a sprinkler.”
