Unstable hillside forces evacuation of Cal Poly dorm

Students at living at Fremont Hall at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo have been evacuated as an unstable hillside continues to threaten their dormitory building.

275 first year students live at Fremont Hall on the Cal Poly campus.

The university notified all the students living in the three-story dorm to evacuate after hillside behind the brick building continued to shift during heavy rain on Friday.

“I feel pretty safe”, adds dorm resident Charlie Watkins, “they are letting everyone know that the soil is right there, the hill is clearly coming down, they’re definitely making sure we have a place to go if something goes wrong.”

The University has already done emergency contingency work including the construction of a barrier wall along the back side of the study hall behind the main dorm building, trees have been cut down and a safety wedge has been cut out of the hillside that is sliding downhill gradually.

“I’m not too worried”, says Fremont Hall resident Sybrand Vander Dussen, “its not going to hurt us I think, just the Cullen Room (study hall), hopefully we’re not in there studying, I don’t use it anyway.”

The University says water flowing deep underground is responsible for the unstable hillside.

Many Fremont Hall residents are leaving campus for the long, President’s Day holiday weekend.

“This just made the decision final I guess”, says dorm resident Guy Taylor, “I was kind of up in the air debating, but then I then I thought what’s the fun in sticking around for this?”

The University says it has provided temporary housing for all the students displaced by the evacuation. There is still no timetable in place for when students will be allowed back inside their dormitory.