BRATTLEBORO-The cause of the March 26 fires that temporarily displaced 126 at the School of International Training (SIT) on Kipling Road “will be listed as undetermined," according to Brattleboro Assistant Fire Chief Charles Keir III.
Keir added that the origin of the fires were determined to not be suspicious.
According to the fire department, Brattleboro emergency personnel received an alarm call from SIT at 11:11 a.m. Units arrived at 11:19 a.m. and first-arriving crews located a fire in Gamble Residence, a building on the north end of the campus.
After locating the fire, Captain David S. Emery Sr. upgraded the incident to a first-alarm assignment, calling in additional crews.
The incident was upgraded to a second alarm after fires were located in other buildings. Active fires burned in five of the 26 buildings on campus.
The call was upgraded to a three-alarm fire at approximately 11:45 a.m., and additional equipment and personnel were called to the scene.
All fires on campus were determined to be under control at 12:29 p.m.
Personnel who responded to the fire and provided coverage to the town during the incident included the Brattleboro Police Department, Brattleboro Public Works, and fire/EMS personnel from throughout the region, including Putney, Guilford, Westminster, Dummerston, and NewBrook fire departments, as well as from Hinsdale, Chesterfield, Spofford, and Keene, New Hampshire, and Greenfield and Bernardston, Massachusetts.
As a result of the fire, 126 people were temporarily displaced, 17 of whom are minors. No injuries to students, staff, or emergency personnel were reported.
The aftermath
At about 1:30 p.m., the town's Emergency Management Team - which includes members of the fire and police departments, Public Works, and the Recreation and Parks Department - coordinated with SIT administration and representatives from the American Red Cross, Vermont Emergency Management, the Vermont Department of Health, the Vermont Division of Fire Safety, the Medical Reserve Corps, Brattleboro Union High School, among other stakeholders, to determine if electricity and water could be returned to the buildings on campus.
The group discussed whether to establish a shelter in an alternate location due to conditions on campus, along with other arrangements, such as security needs.
By 5 p.m., Green Mountain Power and the Division of Fire Safety reported three buildings were ready for occupancy and a central building was selected as shelter for the evening.
Those displaced on campus were allowed to return to the unoccupied buildings to gather essentials.
The Red Cross established a shelter on campus at approximately 7 p.m. to support the immediate needs of those displaced by the fire as well as to provide meals.
Disaster-related health services and mental health services were also offered and Brattleboro police and fire maintained staff a member throughout the evening.
As of the afternoon of March 28, 12 buildings had reopened, providing some additional housing for displaced students.
SIT and the Ethiopian Community Development Council (ECDC), which has used the SIT campus as transitional housing for refugees who are in the process of resettling in Vermont, were working to make arrangements for all those displaced.
The American Red Cross kept the temporary shelter open and provided food through the weekend.
Recreation & Parks Director Carol Lolatte, who serves as a liaison between the Red Cross and the town, expressed her appreciation to the organization for its responsiveness and to the Brattleboro Food Co-op and Vermont Country Deli, which supplied food to the campus.
"Both organizations went above and beyond to feed people with very little lead time to complete a large order," said Lolatte.
"We are tremendously grateful for and humbled by the community's response and their support for our students," said Tim Rivera, senior advisor of World Learning and SIT.
He called the teamwork of people associated with the town, the state, the Red Cross, ECDC, and other members of the community "nothing short of extraordinary" and said some programming will resume this week.
SIT officials have said they intend to draw from their network of established volunteers and ask that those interested in helping the relief effort contribute monetary donations rather than in-person support.
Donations to SIT can be made at graduate.sit.edu/donate (select "Other" under the Designation dropdown menu and write "Refugee Support" in the Designation box). Donations to the ECDC can be made to ecdcvt.org/donate.
This News item by Virginia Ray was written for The Commons.