Wilson Hall was evacuated Wednesday after a sprinkler head on the first floor broke around 10:35 a.m. and sprayed water for about 10 minutes.
"We had one of our electricians enter the building to do some work," said Carl Weaver, director of physical plant at Facilities Management. "As he entered the building with his ladder, the ladder hit the sprinkler head and it went off."
"Those things are very sensitive," said Lt. Brazil of the Providence Fire Department, part of an engine company dispatched to the scene. The firefighters left after they verified there was no sign of fire.
Students and faculty inside the building heard a loud bang and the sound of water spraying from the ceiling near the back of the main entrance area on the first floor. The alarm sounded a few seconds later and the building emptied.
"Well, it's not a swimming pool. That's a good thing," a firefighter at the scene told a group of evacuated students.
The front entrance and part of the first floor of Wilson were briefly closed so the water could be cleaned up, said Stephen Morin, director of environmental health and safety.
Personnel from Facilities Management could be seen bringing a heavy-duty vacuum cleaner into the building, and outside contractors were brought in to repair the sprinkler and "to do some advanced dehumidification for a basement telecommunications area," Morin said.
There was "a fair amount of water intrusion" in Wilson 102, Weaver said, as well as some water intrusion in the basement telephone room.
The cost of the cleanup effort will not be known for several days, he said.
"We're going to chalk this up to an absolutely understandable accident," Weaver said.
