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Two small fires were extinguished at a San Jose State University high-rise dormitory this morning, on the heels of another small fire there two weeks ago.

Joe West Hall was evacuated and students will not be able to return to the dorm until later this afternoon as police and fire investigators search for evidence.

It’s the university’s “top priority” to investigate all three fires at Joe West Hall and see if they’re connected, said spokeswoman Pat Lopes Harris.

“Our students’ safety is No. 1,” she said.

Harris said San Jose State University police and San Jose Fire Department investigators are working together to determine who is behind the fires.

No one was seriously injured in any of the blazes, which were quickly put out. One student, however, was taken to a hospital this morning for minor cuts to his arm after he broke into a fire extinguisher box about 9 a.m. to put out a garbage can fire on the seventh floor of Joe West Hall, where about 500 students live.

That was where the first of two fires was reported today, Harris said. The second one was reported shortly afterward on the fifth floor. Harris did not immediately have any information on the exact location of that fire.

Joe West Hall was evacuated, and Harris expected it would take until at least 3 p.m. today before anyone could return to the smoky residence.

On Nov. 3, a piece of paper on fire was thrown down an elevator shaft of the same residence

hall.

Contact Mark Gomez at 408-920-5869.