The commercial kitchen for Enchanted Broccoli Forest (EBF), an arts-themed cooperative house, caught on fire in the early morning of Feb. 11, prompting a response from the Palo Alto Fire Department (PAFD).
No residents sustained injuries from the fire, which was fully contained by the emergency fire water sprinkler system in the kitchen. PAFD confirmed that the air quality in EBF after the fire remains safe.
Laura Bocek ‘24 M.S. ‘25, an EBF resident, told The Daily that she awoke to fire alarms around 3:30 a.m. and walked to the kitchen where she “saw a five-by-five fireball where we normally keep our rags.”
“I just immediately thought, ‘This is not a fire extinguisher kind of fire. This is a get out of the house kind of fire,’” Bocek said.
Bocek said that although Stanford’s Residential & Dining Enterprises (R&DE) sent workers in every day to clean and restore the kitchen, residents can “see that the back wall of the kitchen is burned” and for several days, “the stench of the smoke was pervasive throughout the house.”
Jocelyn Breeland, chief communications officer for R&DE, wrote to The Daily that R&DE cannot comment on any potential “remedial action” until the Stanford University Fire Marshal’s Office (SUFMO) shares the results of its ongoing investigation. “The kitchen, which is operated by students, is closed until both the investigation and restoration are complete,” Breeland wrote.
Breeland added that “until the commercial kitchen is restored and reopened for student use” R&DE plans to provide “a 19-meal-per-week meal plan to the SUID cards of all EBF residents,” available for use at any dining hall.
“I would love to know what caused it,” Bocek said. “I think that would help a lot of people feel safer in the house. It’s a bit of a fallacy, but the idea is, if we know what caused it, we might be able to prevent it from happening next time.”
Aaron McCarthy, University Fire Marshal, told The Daily that SUFMO has yet to receive an update from PAFD on the cause of the fire, but that he is “hoping” he “can make contact with them” soon.
“This is not your typical kitchen fire. At this point, it’s too soon to determine the specific cause, but we’ve ruled out electrical fire and accidental ignition from a flame.” McCarthy said.
McCarthy said that the EBF residential building, like all student residences, is completely protected by a fully active automatic fire sprinkler protection system. “When the sprinklers activate, it also causes the building evacuation alarms to activate,” McCarthy said.
Bocek shared that the kitchen served as a “centerpiece” for the dorm, a place where students could “cook for each other and make meals together.” Still, Bocek said the fire brought EBF residents closer together.
“After the fire, I think a lot of the residents in EBF were just feeling grateful for each other,” Bocek said. “It was a stressful moment, but it’s also nice knowing that there were people living next to you who were banging on your door and making sure that you were getting out of the house.”
