Bound man found as fire damages WSU frat house

Washington State University fraternity members fleeing a serious fire in their fraternity house early yesterday alerted firefighters on their way out that one of their buddies might be in a downstairs guest room.

Firefighters found the door to the room barricaded with a couch and several chairs. Inside, they found the fraternity member on a bed, his ankles and wrists bound with duct tape.

"It's very fortunate firefighters got to him," said Glenn Johnson, spokesman for the Pullman Police Department. "There was smoke in that area and people can die from smoke inhalation."

The student, and the 19 others who had been inside the house, escaped serious injury in the pre-dawn fire that destroyed the roof of the three-story Sigma Nu fraternity and threatened a sorority house next door.

One student was later treated at the scene for smoke inhalation.

The fire started on a third-floor window sill from a burning candle a frat member failed to extinguish before falling asleep, said Pullman Fire Capt. Richard Dragoo.

Pullman police are investigating the discovery of the bound student, whose name was not released, as a possible hazing. But a fraternity alumni adviser disputed that speculation.

Officers interviewed the student yesterday but are not releasing details of the discussion.

WSU has a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to hazing, said Sue Hinz, spokeswoman for the Eastern Washington school.

"Whether this formally constitutes hazing or not, Washington State University is treating it as the most serious matter possible," said Rom Markin, WSU interim provost.

Pat Crook, an adult alumni adviser for Sigma Nu, said the student was not a victim of hazing - acts in which fraternity pledges are teased and sometimes humiliated by upperclassmen as part of an initiation.

The student who was bound was not a pledge, Crook said.

"It's upperclassmen dealing with an upperclassman," he said. "At this stage, we can say it was basically kind of a prank, things that happen at a fraternity house.

"It's certainly not anything we condone, but it's not part of some deal where we duct-tape guys up, start a fire and see if they can get out," he said.

Police and fire officials say the fire and the student found barricaded and bound in a room appear unrelated. "Nobody would have known about this had there not been a fire," said Crook. "It's poor timing."

Hinz, the university spokeswoman, said Markin and other top university officials plan to talk to the student and other fraternity members today.

She said even if a determination is made that the student was not hazed, the university still would look sternly upon any behavior that threatens the life of a student.

Although WSU has limited jurisdiction over off-campus fraternities, it can prohibit freshmen from living in fraternities, which can cause extreme financial hardships for a house, Hinz said.

The fire is the second in a month at a WSU frat house caused by a candle. The first caused minor damage to the Phi Sigma Kappa house.

Crook said there is no indication alcohol was involved in either incident at Sigma Nu yesterday.

Stuart Eskenazi's phone message number is 206-464-2293. His e-mail address is seskenazi@seattletimes.com.