The fire began around 4:30 a.m. on January 19, 2000, when most students were asleep. Two students, later identified as Sean Ryan and Joseph LePore, set fire to a paper banner that had been partially torn off from a wall display, located in a third floor lounge. In their account, the two men were intoxicated and decided to set fire to the banner as a prank, which would cause the smoke detectors to go off and the students would evacuate into  weather.
At around 4:30 a.m. on January 19, 2000, when most students were sleeping, two individuals—Sean Ryan and Joseph LePore—ignited a torn paper banner from an exhibit wall in the third-floor lounge area. They claimed to have been intoxicated and set the banner ablaze as a prank, which would activate smoke detectors and lead students to evacuate into adverse weather conditions.