Spring Break
Police investigating cause of suspicious fire in Music Building
Allison Lex
Issue date: 2/24/09 Section: News
UConn police are conducting a criminal investigation into a small fire that five students discovered and extinguished in the Music Building at 2:20 a.m. Saturday.
The students came across two stacks of burning Daily Campus newspapers on a wooden bench near the building's entrance while taking a shortcut home, said Thomas Zemetis, a 4th-semester political science and communications double major who extinguished the fire.
"The flames were between six and 12 inches high, and about three to four inches thick of the papers were engulfed in flames," Zemetis said.
The fire alarm was not sounded until after the flames were extinguished and the papers were left smoldering.
The papers were still smoldering when the UConn Fire Department responded and inspected the area. There was no damage to the building, said Fire Chief Francis Williams.
Had the papers continued to burn, damage could have been significant.
"It would've created a lot of smoke and smoke damage can be quite expensive," Williams said.
The specific cause of the fire will not be revealed until the Fire Marshal finishes investigating, according to Williams.
"But there was nothing there that really could have started it," Williams said. "I'd say it's of a suspicious nature."
"The police are investigating the fire as a criminal offense," UConn Police Major Ronald Blicher said.
Blicher could not release any information about the open investigation. But Williams did say most university buildings, including the Music Building, should be locked at night.
"The circumstances of why the door was open is part of the investigation," Blicher said.
The students came across two stacks of burning Daily Campus newspapers on a wooden bench near the building's entrance while taking a shortcut home, said Thomas Zemetis, a 4th-semester political science and communications double major who extinguished the fire.
"The flames were between six and 12 inches high, and about three to four inches thick of the papers were engulfed in flames," Zemetis said.
The fire alarm was not sounded until after the flames were extinguished and the papers were left smoldering.
The papers were still smoldering when the UConn Fire Department responded and inspected the area. There was no damage to the building, said Fire Chief Francis Williams.
Had the papers continued to burn, damage could have been significant.
"It would've created a lot of smoke and smoke damage can be quite expensive," Williams said.
The specific cause of the fire will not be revealed until the Fire Marshal finishes investigating, according to Williams.
"But there was nothing there that really could have started it," Williams said. "I'd say it's of a suspicious nature."
"The police are investigating the fire as a criminal offense," UConn Police Major Ronald Blicher said.
Blicher could not release any information about the open investigation. But Williams did say most university buildings, including the Music Building, should be locked at night.
"The circumstances of why the door was open is part of the investigation," Blicher said.
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