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All Schenley Hall residents may return to their rooms tonight except for the sophomores living in the second floor room where the fire began Friday night, according to University officials.

GW Facilities continues to repair the damage caused by the fire and the residence hall has not returned to “full operational status,” according to a GW Housing letter sent to Schenley residents tonight.

University and D.C. Fire Department officials have not released the official cause of the fire.

At about 2 a.m., most Schenley residents were allowed to return to their rooms. Students on the second floor–where the fire occurred–and rooms 101, 102, 301 and 302 were not allowed in at this time. After initially allowing residents into their rooms almost an hour earlier, the fire alarm went off again due to a malfunction, forcing another evacuation.

As Matt Trainum, director of housing, told a crowd of students waiting outside, “They are continuing to work on the alarm … I cannot guarantee it won’t go off again,” the alarm activated again.

The alarm went off a third time before officers fixed the problem and allowed students back in– an announcement met by cheers and applause.

Schenley residents are still not allowed into the building and are being instructed to find alternative lodging for the night, a senior official said.

“We’ve contacted all the students whose rooms were affected and they are going to stay elsewhere, mostly with friends,” said Mark Levine, senior assistant dean of students.

Students who are not able to find alternative housing will be placed in vacant rooms on campus, said Johanna Easley, campus community director. As of now, no one is currently allowed back in the building.

Residents of the first three floors were instructed to check with the concierge desk at the Marvin Center and let administrators know where they were sleeping. If students did not show up, housing officials called their cell phones.

Levine said that residents of floors four through eight will be allowed in the building in the next few hours.

“For any students whose rooms were not affected, they are going to get some stuff and stay somewhere else,” he said. “They will escorted by the staff.”

- Danielle Meister

At about 9:30 p.m., a fire broke out on the second floor of Schenley Hall.Allen Etter, a D.C . fire department spokesperson said the fire was caused by an air conditioner that caught fire and there were no injuries.Witnesses said they saw flames coming from the center window of the second floor and UPD arrived on the scene about five minutes later.Students were immediately evacuated from the building. Residents of the neighboring Crawford residence hall were prevented from entering or leaving after the fire department arrived.