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Volume CXXXIII, Number 13 |
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'We did start the fire,' say students
NATALIE CRAVEN
STAFF WRITER
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| Students eventually added furniture to the bonfire. At its peak, the Brunswick Apartments crowd reached roughly 100 students. (Courtesy of Peter Hastings) |
Following the Patriots' last-minute victory in the Super Bowl last Sunday, a number of students took celebrations outdoors and started a fire on the Brunswick Apartments quad.
"Right after the Pats won we heard people yelling on the quad. We went out to join the celebration and were blown away by the towering inferno," said Chris Donnelly '05, a resident of Brunswick Apartments.
The fire broke out between Units I and J of the Apartments. "We received a report at 10:31 p.m. from a resident who called to say there was a fire on the quad," Director of Security Bruce Boucher said. Security then contacted the Brunswick Fire Department.
Volunteer firefighters Travis Brennan '04 and Todd Williams '04 arrived on the scene around the same time as the fire truck. "It was like a big party," Williams said of the scene. "There was a lot of chanting and yelling, it was obviously a very jovial atmosphere."
By the time the fire department arrived, the fire had reached a considerable size and the group size was around 100 people. "It started with cardboard and branches, and a chair was even thrown in there," Donnelly added. "The crowd got very rowdy cheering for the Patriots and chanting 'Yankees suck.'"
Drew Russo '06 heard people outside his apartment after the game and walked outside to see what was going on. "It was pretty cool," he said of the fire. "It was good, clean fun; there were a lot of passionate sports fans out there. There were people singing 'We Didn't Start the Fire' and chanting and celebrating."
The fire department put out the fire, "to many boos," Williams said, and the crowd dispersed. "The firefighters seemed to be as jovial as the students," Williams added. "It was more of a comedic scene than anything else."
About an hour later, a second fire started in the same location. "This fire was much smaller, and we were able to put it out without the help of the fire department," Boucher said. A resident assisted using the fire extinguisher in his room to put out the flames.
"It was a lot of fun," Brendan Fischer '06 recalled. "It probably would have been worse if the Red Sox had won. The first fire had a large chair from someone's apartment in the middle of it. The second one started from tree branches, there were kids breaking off pieces of trees and throwing them in the fire."
Security received one additional complaint about "a loud gathering in and around an apartment," according to Boucher. "At this point we told everyone that we would contact the Brunswick Police if we received one more call, and that put an end to the disturbances," he said.
Boucher said that he "can't remember if there were similar events two years ago" when the Patriots last won the Super Bowl. "I think it was pretty quiet, I believe it was much colder and that kept people indoors," he said.
Students gather around the bonfire created after the Patriots Super Bowl victory on Sunday night. The fire occurred on the Brunswick Apartments quad.
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