An early morning fire at Grant Towers North Monday caused an estimated $4,000 in damage, and has resulted in the temporary suspension of an NIU freshman arrested for starting the blaze with fireworks.

Robert V. Cavallo, 18, 356 Grant North, was arrested by the University Police and charged with criminal damage to property and illegal consumption of alcohol.

Cavallo posted $5,000 bond for his release from the DeKalb County Jail, a jail official said. Cavallo’s pre-trial hearing is scheduled for April 13 at the DeKalb County Courthouse, Sycamore.

Larry Bolles, University Judicial Office director, said Cavallo was “immediately temporarily suspended” from NIU, but has 48 hours to appeal the suspension to John Dalton, vice president for student affairs. Cavallo is suspended from the residence hall until the judicial office decides if he is a threat to the university , Bolles said.

Considerations on strengthening NIU’s alcohol policy guidelines were accelerated since the incident involved alcohol. “We’re putting some more teeth, if you will, in the alcohol policy,” he said.

Dalton said Cavallo has not contacted him as of 6 p.m. Monday.

James Brunson, Grant Towers area coordinator said a two-foot-long roman candle was discharged on the third floor at about 2:20 a.m., went underneath a locked residence room door and set ablaze the resident assistant’s room. The RA was not in the room at the time of the incident, he said.

Eleven firefighters from the DeKalb Fire Department responded to the blaze utilizing two fire trucks, a command vehicle and an ambulance, David Walker, assistant fire chief, said. The fire was under control after about 10 minutes while firefighters were on the scene for about an hour-and-a-half.

No one was injured in the blaze, and 2,000 residents were evacuated from the residence hall for about 45 minutes.

The fire is considered a “set fire” and not an arson fire, Walker said. Arson fires are considered to be maliciously started while set fires are considered to be accidentally started, he said. There is a “real touchy” distinction between the two terms, Walker said.

The fire is under investigation by the UPs and the fire department and is considered an isolated incident, Walker said.

Brunson said “the room is scorched,” but there is no structural damage to the building. Although damages are estimated at $4,000, Brunson said he believes the damage figure will increase.

“It’s difficult to determine how much actual damage is done to her private property. If she had been there, it could have been worse,” Brunson said.

Donald Buckner, director of student housing and housing services, said the rug or some newspapers in the room initially caught fire, while most of the smoke and fumes resulted from the melting of a telephone.

UP Lt. Ronald Williams said criminal damage to property is a Class IV felony with a possible one to three-year prison sentence, and a fine of up to $10,000.

The Grant North blaze is the third on-campus fire in three months. A Jan. 25 arson fire caused an estimated $25,000 in damage to the Holmes Student Center. Another arson fire at Stevenson Towers North on Feb. 4 caused an estimated $1,000 in damage.