William & Mary officials have determined a fire near the Botetourt Complex and behind Fauquier Hall was caused by the failure of a Dominion Energy transformer.
Crews are still working to restore power to the area of campus where the fire broke out, according to a college alert sent at 3:17 p.m.
The transformer failed at 8:52 a.m. and started the fire, Dominion Energy spokeswoman Bonita Harris said.
The initial failure caused a wave across campus, damaging 17 transformers total and causing about half the campus to lose power, Harris said.
Harris added that Dominion crews replaced all but the transformer where the damage originated by 11:17 a.m., restoring power to most of campus.
The Botetourt Complex and Keck Lab are expected to be without power for several days, the campus alert said.
Residence Life has talked directly with students living at the Botetourt Complex, and has made plans to temporarily relocate them. Harris said about 500 students were displaced after the fire.
At 5:30 p.m., Dominion night crews had taken over the repairs. The final transformer — the one that failed — gives power to six buildings including the Botetourt Complex, Dinwiddie dorm, Nicholson dorm, Spotswood dorm, Fauquier dorm, Gooch dorm and Keck Environmental Field lab, Harris said.
Dominion crews aim to finish replacing the transformer by 10 a.m. Monday, but Harris said some of the college’s equipment was also damaged, meaning power may not be restored until the end of the week.
Dominion will stay on-site to assist in repairs, Harris said.
Reopening times for other campus dining facilities will vary depending on when they get power back, the alert said.
Information on each dining facility’s status is available at the W&M Dining Facebook page.
