A fire at the College-owned Alpha Chi Alpha fraternity house got out of control during Thanksgiving break and caused $5,000 of structural damage to the house.
According to Hanover Fire Department Captain Jon Whitcomb, heat seeped through cracks in the fireplace to start the blaze.
Director of Residential Operations Woody Eckels said the problem probably stemmed from deteriorated mortar in the house's fireplace and the proximity of wood in the house to the chimney.
The College can do a visual inspection of the fireplaces in the fraternities and sororities it owns, but it is impossible to check the condition of the mortar between a fireplace and wall or to know whether structural supports are too close to a fireplace, Eckels said.
Fireplaces built by the College today conform to National Fire Protection Association Codes, but Eckels said he has no way of knowing how many of the older fireplaces do not.
"If I had my preference [the College] would not be using the fireplaces," Eckels said, who was also concerned some students do not know how to light fires safely.
Assistant Director of Operations and Residential Life Bernard Haskel said the College would pay for repairs to the house.
"It was nothing [the brothers] did wrong. It was just an old house," he said.
Repairs will include rebuilding the fireplace and reconstructing a section of the house's wall.
Damage could have been much more extensive if a brother returning to the house early the morning of November 30 had not noticed smoke coming from the building, Eckels said.
Rob Mullins '98 said he noticed the smoke on the way home from working on an engineering project, but "it wasn't dramatic or anything."
Mullins also said he stopped some of the brothers from lighting another fire. He called Safety and Security, which arrived and pulled the fire alarm.
The Hanover Fire Department responded to the blaze with 12 people, three engines and one aerial unit, Whitcomb said.
Although fire officials said they saw no wrongdoing by Alpha Chi members, others have accused the brothers of Alpha Chi of burning more than just firewood at the time of the blaze.
Peter Hasenkamp '98, president of Sigma Phi Epsilon at the time of the fire, alleged some burned his fraternity's pong table and several other items stolen from Sig Ep.
Paul Killebrew '99, president of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, said he suspects the brothers of Alpha Chi watched while an SAE chair burned.
"[The chair] was probably pretty flammable," he said.
Jon Davis '98, the president of Alpha Chi at the time of the fire, said he was not certain whether brothers in his house burned the property.
O'Connor said no one else's property was burned. "It's physically impossible to fit anything in that fireplace," he added.
Assistant Director of Residential Operations Bernard Haskell, who inspected it two days later, said, "The wood removed from the fire was firewood."
