University of Idaho officials have a identified a suspect they believe may be responsible for starting a small fire April 12 in the Administration Building.
Vice President for Infrastructure Dan Ewart said the most likely culprit was an LED bulb. The bulb was one of 66,000 recently installed throughout campus as part of an Avista energy-efficiency program that is estimated to yield savings of more than $355,000 annually to the UI. The university received a $1 million rebate from Avista for taking advantage of the program.
Ewart said a total of 10 LEDs installed this past fall have failed, although the other nine either simply stopped working, had small melting on the ends of the ballasts or had a little smoke coming from them.