Suite Is Gutted In Quincy Fire

A fire apparently started by a candle gutted Quincy D-23 late Friday night, destroying almost all the personal belongings of Roger E. Korpi '71 and Thomas G. Stemberg '71.

Korpi had left some friends in the suite earlier in the evening when he went out with a date. The friends left later, failing to extinguish candles burning in Korpi's bedroom, and when Korpi returned at 11:30 p.m. and opened the door to the suite, thick smoke was pouring out. Korpi turned in the alarm himself.

Several pieces of Cambridge Fire Department equipment fought the blaze to the delight of dozens of onlookers. Bystanders in the Quincy yard ran from showers of glass as firemen broke out windows in D-entry stairway and tossed damaged furniture from the second story windows. The crowd hissed a resident of the Quincy tower who played "Light My Fire" on his stereo until the police got to him.

Korpi said his bedroom was a total loss. Stemberg said his bedroom and the suite's study were two-thirds destroyed, but he was most upset by the loss of his Chem 20 notes.

Joel M. Porte, Allston Burr Senior Tutor in Quincy House, said yesterday that workmen have already begun to repair the damage to the building. Harvard does not insure student belongings and strongly urges students to carry their own insurance, Porte said. Korpi and Stemberg are not certain whether their losses are covered by their parents' insurance.