Currier Closet Fire Forces Late Evacuation

A closet fire in a Currier House room brought in five fire trucks and forced an evacuation of the house at 11:30 p.m. last night. By 1 a.m., students were allowed back in the house, though the single where the fire erupted was uninhabitable.

Approximately 150 students congregated in front of Currier between 11:30 p.m. and 12:45 a.m. when the building was reopened.

At press time, the cause of the fire was still under investigation, according to acting Deputy Chief Boyle. Boyle said the fire was contained to the room where it started.

Suzanna E. Kirk '95, the resident of Gilbert 402, the Currier room in which the fire broke out, was down-stairs at a jazz performance when the fire began in her room.

"I have lost my faith in God," Kirk said. "I am feeling motherfucking pissed off because 10 years of work might be down the drain."

Many of the residents of Currier were also downstairs at the performance Jazz Odyssey, a music show, scheduled to run from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. in the Currier fishbowl, when the alarm first went off. Senior tutors quickly lead those students outside, residents said.

However, residents of Daniels Hall, another part of Currier, said that the fire alarms did not go off in their section of the house.

"We were sitting there watching a movie and if a friend had not come and told us about it we would still be sitting there," said one student who wished to remain anonymous.

Michele B. Harper '99, a resident of Daniels 402, got caught trying to exit her hall.

"The elevator stopped [between floor LM and M], I started kicking on the door...They shut off the elevator, I pulled it open," said Harper.

"I was really scared at first I kept imagining Backdraft," Harper said.

Other students who were in the building but not at the performance said that their evacuation went extremely slow, because students often don't take alarms seriously.

"A fire alarm is pretty routine but knowing this is real is pretty scary," Andrew W. Kaufman '97 said.

Three engine trucks, two latter trucks and a rescue unit arrived at the scene quickly and located the fire on the fourth flour. Water was used to dose the fire out, though Boyle said only a minimal amount was needed.

Although trucks from more than one company rushed to the house, Boyle said this was standard procedure for a fire in a dormitory.

"It was not that big a fire, it was just in an awkward spot," Boyle said.

Firefighters who entered the room said that the fire was burning in the closet when they arrived and that the fire did not spread beyond the room. But smoke did spread throughout the floor and into the next.

"My roommate woke me up and there was smoke covering the entire ceiling of the hallway, probably to head level," said Katherine M. O'Connor '99, who lives in Gilbert 405 and was able to exit by the stairs.

"When they finally got the windows up you could see huge clouds of smoke coming out of the room," O'Connor said.

Although the fire was put out almost immediately, it took over an hour for firefighters using electric fans to dissipate the smoke.

The firefighters then took papers, C.D.s and books that had been on fire and threw them into the courtyard.

Shortly before other students were allowed in, Currier House Master William A. Graham Jr. escorted Kirk back to her room.

As students were walking back into the house, Kirk could be heard screaming out the window.

Currier House residents then helped clean up the courtyard, gathering up the documents the firefighters had thrown in the courtyard.

While Kirk's room remained closed, other students were allowed back into their rooms.

According to Graham, who is also professor of the history of religion and Islamic studies, arrangements have been made for Kirk to stay elsewhere in the house. Graham said he had no further comment at this time

"When they finally got the windows up you could see huge clouds of smoke coming out of the room," O'Connor said.

Although the fire was put out almost immediately, it took over an hour for firefighters using electric fans to dissipate the smoke.

The firefighters then took papers, C.D.s and books that had been on fire and threw them into the courtyard.

Shortly before other students were allowed in, Currier House Master William A. Graham Jr. escorted Kirk back to her room.

As students were walking back into the house, Kirk could be heard screaming out the window.

Currier House residents then helped clean up the courtyard, gathering up the documents the firefighters had thrown in the courtyard.

While Kirk's room remained closed, other students were allowed back into their rooms.

According to Graham, who is also professor of the history of religion and Islamic studies, arrangements have been made for Kirk to stay elsewhere in the house. Graham said he had no further comment at this time