A couch caught fire at Sigma Nu fraternity early Saturday morning but the house's automatic sprinkler system extinguished the blaze by the time the Hanover Fire Department arrived at the scene.
The fire department responded to a call from the fraternity at 5:09 a.m. reporting a fire in the house's living room, a fire department spokeswoman said.
The fire, which ruined the couch by burning three cushions and "a good section" of the frame, also damaged a rug and left a mark on a sprinkler pipe hanging from the ceiling, Sigma Nu President Jonathan Belk '95 said.
Belk said smoke was already outside his door on the third floor when the fire alarm woke him up.
"It was pretty scary," he said. "We've had prank fire alarms before but this was the first time we've had a fire."
He said everyone evacuated the house and a College troubleshooter, who is automatically notified when a fire alarm goes off, came to the house and took the couch outside.
"We're unsure of how it started," Belk said. "It appears to be an accident." He added that the fire may have been caused by a cigarette or from a fire in the fireplace.
The fire department said they will continue to investigate the cause of the fire.
"We're happy it was a relatively small and contained fire," Belk said.
Belk said the sprinkler system left one inch of water on the first floor, most of which seeped through to the basement.
Belk said his house just recently passed its fire safety inspection "with no problems."
