Updated: Students Evacuated at Bloomfield College Dormitory Fire

A fire erupted at a Bloomfield College dormitory early Sunday morning, causing extensive damage but no injuries, according to the Bloomfield Fire Department. 

The two-alarm fire, which began in the basement of a three-story dormitory house at 19 Austin Street, had spread from the lower level and reached the top floor when firefighters arrived at 4:05 a.m.  According to Fire Captain Steven Motzer, relaying information from a colleague who was at the scene, “The students self-evacuated.”

Bloomfield College student Peter Beckford was in the building at the time of the blaze. 

“I was in the building at around 4:00 or 4:30. The fire alarm went off. I went out of the room and there was smoke all over,” he recalled. “I went outside and then went back in for valuables, like my phone and passport and stuff.” 

Beckford said he wasn’t afraid to go back into the building because he didn’t see any flames. 

“I did think I was in danger,” Beckford admitted, “but I wasn’t afraid because I only saw smoke. I see [fires] on movies, I thought it was just props and stuff. I thought if I was ever in that situation I could just hold my breath. But it was tough. I couldn’t do it at all. My eyes were burning and I couldn’t breathe. It was bad.”

Beckford had returned to the scene at about noon on Sunday, along with his friend Claude, to see the damage to the building. Both students, sophomore accounting majors from Jamaica, live at the 61 Oakland Street dormitories.  Beckford had been visiting his girlfriend when the fire broke out. 

“The police asked how the fire started and was everyone accounted for,” Beckford said, noting that the dormitory, which regularly houses 10 students, was partially vacant on Sunday morning.  “Most people were home for the weekend.” 

Beckford said he had never known there to be parties or activities in the area where the fire reportedly began. “Actually, nobody goes down to the basement.  The door has a lock on it,” he said.

Claude said he had arrived at the scene the previous night while the students were being evacuated. “I was a bit worried, wondering if there were any injuries,” he said.  “When I saw everyone come out [of the dormitory] I was relieved.”

“This one girl, who lived near the room beside the kitchen, she had a hard time.  She looked scared,” said Beckford, who said the kitchen was situated above the basement.  “She was the last one out.  You could see she was disoriented.”

He said the dormitory’s “RAs” and “RDs” (Resident Advisors and Resident Directors) escorted the students to nearby college housing, where they spent the rest of the night.

“The fire marshals asked us if we knew how it started. We said no.” 

Motzer confirmed that, as of Sunday, the cause of the blaze was unknown but would be investigated. 

“The fire was quickly extinguished.  The crew left at 7:00 a.m. No one was injured,” said Motzer. 

When contacted by Patch Sunday afternoon, Bloomfield College declined to comment on the fire.