Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

Small trashcan fire broke out in Kennedy Hall

(Daily Collegian Archive)

A small fire broke out on the 16th floor of the University of Massachusetts first-year residential dorm, Kennedy Hall, Tuesday morning, drawing the Amherst Police Department and Amherst Fire Department to campus.

According to UMass spokesperson Edward Blaguszewski, the fire was discovered at 10:05 a.m. inside a trash can by a maintainer, who then pulled the alarm. AFD responded, and the fire was put out with a fire extinguisher. AFD then left the scene within a half hour. There is no word on the cause of the fire.

Kennedy Hall is a 22-floor, high-rise tower. It is one of the eight first-year residence halls in the Southwest Residential Area.

Freshman Bonnie Chen came back to the dorm at around 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday as the evacuated students were being let back into the building. She was not too surprised to hear about the fire and said it was not a huge deal to have students evacuate since it was later in the morning.

She also heard that the fire happened in the floor’s trash room.

“I honestly thought there would’ve been one sooner. I thought that because everyone was still adjusting, something might happen to set the alarm off,” Chen said.

Caeli Chesin can be reached at [email protected].

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