University of Virginia Library

Attic Blaze, Water Damage Top Floors Of Cabell Hall

Electrical System Suspected As Cause;
Students Assist In Removing Valuables

By Peter Shea
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

Photo By Rick Smith

Firemen Ax Way Through State Roof Of New Cabell Hall To Bare Flames In Smoke-Filled Attic

Student Volunteers Aided in Fire-Fighting, Book - Salvaging, And Clean- Up Efforts Throughout The Night

A fire broke out in Cabell Hall late
Monday afternoon, sending choking
smoke through the top floors and seeping
through the roof of the building.

An investigation by the State Fire
Marshall's Office has found no evidence
to indicate the fire was set by any sort of
incendiary devices.

The marshals did find evidence of
lightening striking the building and following
service from the elevator shaft to a
junction box.

Further evidence revealed several short
circuits in the vicinity of the junction
box, and the Marshall's report concluded
"... that electrical sparks jumped to a
stored radio-receiver, fusing several of the
wires and igniting combustion near the
receiver."

Firemen answering the blaze, first
reported by Charles Longino of the
Sociology Department, were at first stymied by
the smoke on the top two floors. Holes were
axed in the ceiling of the fifth floor, revealing
flames, but the hoses stretched into the
building proved useless.

At 4:55 p.m. a hand saw was used to cut
holes in the slate roof and water was pumped
into the attic through a two and one-half inch
hose stretched from the ground six stories
below.

Engine companies 3, 4, and 6 and truck
company 2 responded to the two-alarm blaze
from Fire Department headquarters, while
Engine No. 1 responded from No. 1 Station.

According to by Cauthen, Dean of the
College, microfilm and medical negatives were
stored in the gutted attic.

A crowd of several hundred students and
faculty members gathered in the parking lot to
watch the fire. A number of students aided in
the effort, and many more helped faculty
members remove books and other valuable
items from the endangered offices.

Intense heat prevented the masked firemen
from entering the attic to extinguish the fire,
which was finally brought under control about
two hours after it started.
obtained, but University officials stated that it
was far less extensive than at first feared.

Water cascaded down the stairwell in the
southwest corner, flooding hallways in the
second, third, fourth and fifth floors. The
acoustical tile ceiling on the fifth floor
buckled from the water, soaking most of the

Photo By Rick Smith

Fireman Fights Smoke In Cabell Hall Stairwell.

Thick Smoke, Intense Heat Hampered Efforts to Extinguish Blaze.

The ceilings of many offices on the fourth
floor also started giving way. Water reached a
level of five inches in some places, and concrete
from the holes cut in the fifth floor drifted
down to the floors below.

No injuries were reported despite the thick
smoke.

President Edgar F. Shannon expressed "the
University's deep appreciation for the efforts of
the number of concerned students who assisted
in removing valuable materials from the areas
adjacent to the fire and for their efforts in
cleaning up the areas involved so that classes
could meet tomorrow" in a statement last