News : Dorm evacuated after birthday candles set off fire alarm at AmeriCorps campus

Allison O'Shea and other AmeriCorps members wait for firemen to reset the fire alarm Saturday.

Allison O'Shea's birthday candles set off a smoke alarm, causing an AmeriCorps evacuation.

Wherever Allison O'Shea is next March 12th, when she celebrates her 24th birthday -- or wherever she is for any other birthday -- it is unlikely to be more memorable than her 23rd birthday, on March 12, 2011, in Vinton, Iowa.

Allison, from Marietta, Ga., was the subject of a surprise birthday party thrown by her teammates on Cedar 3. The group was having a small party, with a cake, at Palmer Hall, Saturday evening. They only had one bad idea: Using those trick candles that keep re-igniting after they are blown out.

The candles on Allison's cake made so much smoke that it set of the smoke alarm. That caused an evacuation of the entire building as a Vinton police officer and several Vinton firemen responded. The AmeriCorps members and team leaders huddled together in the cold for 10-15 minutes as Vinton firefighters reset the alarm.

Building Superintendent Don Boddicker apologized to the AmeriCorps members for the delay, but said that state law required them to remain outside of the building until firemen give the all-clear.

The AmeriCorps Class 17 members have been training for several weeks. They will have their official induction into the program next Wednesday, March 16. The ceremony takes place in the Vinton-Shellsburg High School auditorium at 6:30 p.m. The public is invited. Allison and her Cedar 3 teammates, along with the teams from the Oak and Maple units, will leave the next day for the first of their long-term projects.

One team leader said that Assistant Director Rob Levis had advised the team leaders to expect a fire alarm in the near future. At first, some of them thought that was the case -- but then the firefighters arrived.

No damage was reported; Allison's party resumed after firefighters issued the all-clear.