Total Damage Thousands As Fire Strikes Matthews

A fire of undetermined origin swept through Matthews Hall late Saturday night, displacing five students and causing several thousand dollars worth of damage.

At a few minutes after 10 p.m. John K. Preston '73 noticed that smoke was rising from behind the closed door of a janitors' stockroom on the first floor of Matthews South.

Preston opened the door, and Ronald C. Hill '73 sounded the alarm which notified the entry's occupants. Robert A. Booth '73, whose suite adjoins the stockroom, saw his living room fill with smoke, and ran to Grays Hall to notify University Police.

Patrolmen sounded the city alarm and went to Matthews to evacuate the remaining students from their rooms, Within minutes, eight fire engines from the Quincy Street Station raced across the Yard and parked around Matthews.

The fire was under control by 10:45 p.m. One fireman was treated for a sprained ankle, but there were no other injuries.

Firemen later discovered that, although a bedroom next to the stockroom was gutted by flames, the wall between the two rooms had not been burned, suggesting separate fires.

Deputy Fire Chief John F. Kenney said that the fire was "of suspicious origin." Fire marshals began a formal investigation this morning.