Fire Damages Basement Of Science History Office

A fire broke out in the basement of the History of Science departmental building, located at 1764 Cambridge Street, yesterday afternoon, causing extensive damage to the basement but injuring no one. The cause of the blaze has not been determined.

One person was in the building when the fire started, but the flames never reached the interior of the structure, according to Cambridge firefighters at the scene. In addition to the damaged basement, a side of the building measuring 60 square feet was badly scorched.

Cambridge firefighters said they were notified of the fire at 2:20 p.m. yesterday, after Rudy Barton, a second-year student at the Graduate School of Design, noticed flames coming out of the basement door located at the rear of the building.

Report

Janet Lange, wife of a History of Science fellow, was working in the building when the fire broke out, and sensed that "someone was building a fire in the fire place--but there isn't fireplace." She left the building to notify the University police.

Firefighters, who arrived on the scene approximately five minutes later, said yesterday they had to remove two basement doors to gain access to the blaze, but after doing so brought the flames under control in a matter of minutes.

The Fogg Art Museum rents the building and the one adjoining it to the Faculty. The Cambridge Historical Commission lists both structures as historical edifices.