A University of Massachusetts student died in a fire Saturday morning that broke out in a duplex north of campus on Sand Hill Road.
Katya Yerozolimsky, 21, of Andover, Mass., was rushed to Cooley Dickinson Hospital from 98 Sand Hill Road. She was pronounced dead at the hospital.
According to the Amherst Fire Department (AFD), the fire was discovered and called in by Capt. David Miner as he was on his way to work. Miner made the call at 7:08 a.m. By 7:14, the first groups of firefighters arrived. Firefighters David Bennett and David Martell rescued four other occupants of 98 Sand Hill Road while Miner evacuated one person from 100 Sand Hill Road, the other side of the duplex.
The four evacuated from 98 Sand Hill Road and one other occupant who arrived after the fire department arrived were taken to Cooley Dickinson Hospital for counseling, AFD sources said.
Damage to the building, which is owned by Amherst resident Shirley Tang, was estimated at about $50,000. The building stood boarded up with plywood yesterday, with some debris still remaining on the grass in the front yard.
According to AFD, 31 firefighters, four pumper trucks, an aerial ladder truck, two ambulances, four squads, three chief officers and the fire department chaplain were dispatched to the scene Saturday morning. Three other off-duty firefighters covered the station.
State Trooper Frank Hart and other fire investigators determined yesterday that the fire originated in the living room of the apartment in or adjacent to a couch. They ruled that the fire was accidental and that it did not involve electrical problems. AFD sources said that there was also “ample evidence” of discarded smoking materials, but that the fire’s cause could not be pinpointed to that.
UMass spokesperson Barbara Pitoniak said that she had no additional information readily available on Yerozolimski yesterday. She said that Interim Dean of Students Gladys Rodriguez released a statement in regards to the fire and death.
“Katya’s death is a tragic loss for the University community,” it stated. “We extend our sincere sympathies to her family and friends.”
Docter Harry Rockland-Miller, director of Mental Health Services, has said previously that counseling is available both for individuals and groups “whenever there is a significant event like a student death.”
Rockland-Miller said that anyone seeking counseling should call Mental Health Services at 545-2337.
Yerozolimski is the third undergraduate to die this semester. On Jan. 22, senior Jessica Harpin, 21, died after going into cardiac arrest in a Belchertown apartment. Francis Dippolito, 19, of Revere, Mass., was also found dead on March 9 in the Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity house at 510 N. Pleasant St.
The fire is also the second major fire involving UMass students this semester. On Feb. 9, two apartments in the North Village family housing section of UMass were destroyed when an electrical fire that started with a second floor bathroom ceiling fan rapidly spread to the roof of the building.
