Fire Damages Winthrop Room After Students Light Menorah

A small fire caused by a menorah left unattended in a Winthrop House suite Saturday night forced students to eyacuate the entry but did only minor damage to the rooms.

The blaze started at around 6 p.m. when the residents of Winthrop B-11 left several religious candles used to celebrate the Hanukah holiday burning on the mantle while they went to dinner, said resident Linda M. Lau '86 yesterday. She added that when she and entry mate Geraldine Robin '86 returned about an hour later, thick black smoke was pouring from the room.

Rubin partially doused the flames with a wet towel, and another students who lives upstairs from the suite used and fire extinguisher to finish the job.

Cambridge firefighters, who arrived several minutes later responding to the room's smoke detector, chopped about two inches from the front of the still-smoking mantle where the menorah had been placed, Lau said.

Other damage to the room was the result of soot and smoke, resident Janet S. Hong '86 said.

No official cost estimate for the damages was available, and the suite will be repaired during Christmas break.

Winthrop Senior Tutor Lee Pelton said yesterday that the College specifically prohibits the use of candles in dormitory rooms in the student handbook. He added that he will remind Winthrop residents of the regulation in a House newsletter.

In an unrelated incident, sparks flying from a faulty electrical connector interrupted the Harvard Gilbert and Sullivan Players' Friday night performance of "Ruddygore."

According to the show's lighting designer, Alan P. Symonds, a faulty connector about 16 feet above the Agaaiz Theatre stage caused the sparks and produced a burning smell.

The building's smoke alarm did not go off, but patrons filed outside, white the stage crew repaired the wiring. After a ten-minute wait, the audience re-entered and watched the remainder of the play.