Harvard Blazes Keep Firefighters Busy

Small fires brought Cambridge fires crews racing to locations across Harvard several times this weekend.

Fire officials said an electrical short was to blame for a small fire underneath a refrigerator in the Greenhouse Cafe at the Science Center about 8 p.m. Saturday.

A Greenhouse manager doused the flames with a dry chemical before firefighters from Cambridge Engine 1, Ladder 1 and Rescue 1 arrived, fire officials said.

"We just checked and made sure everything was out and shut off the electricity," a fire dispatcher said.

The Science Center is firebox 623 in the city's fire dispatching system.

Smoke from another fire yesterday morning could be smelled blocks away, witnesses said.

A fence in the backyard of a private residence on Dunster Street across from the Malkin Athletic Center burned for several minutes around 11 a.m. before passersby and Harvard students called the fire department.

The fire was out before firefighters arrived, but a large portion of the fence was damaged. Fire crews sprayed the area surrounding the fence with water to make sure embers from the extinguished blaze did not catch onto the house that was less than 15 feet away.

The cause of that blaze is not known. Neither fire caused any injuries.