With reporting from Aiden Lewald, Isaac Roy, Max Ridenour and Cathryn Salis
Waves of black smoke flooded the Hamline campus around 12:30 p.m. on Feb. 27. Blowing southeast from Snelling and Taylor, thick levels of smoke and debris headed toward the bustling campus. Students rushed indoors, covered their faces with the collars of their shirts and pulled masks out to avoid the toxic air surrounding them.
Public Safety officers were on the corner of Hewitt encouraging students to get back and out of the smoke. The source of the fire was a car parked on the property of a Midway residence. The home was affected by burns that transferred from the car to the side of the house, at which point neighbor David Albornoz, a Hamline graduate and former staff member, alerted the homeowner and authorities.
“I was walking my dogs earlier today, and when I came back home I went to the backyard to say hello to my neighbor’s dog, and I saw smoke coming out of the car,” Albornoz said. “Right away I knew there was an emergency.”
First responders arrived promptly from every direction and immediately got to work keeping the fire contained. Around 1:00 p.m. a firefighter claimed that the fire and situation were under control. They were unable to give an official statement at the time of the emergency.
Damage was also visible at the back corner of the house at 912 Snelling, as charred beams fell to the ground from the second floor.
Homeowner Frank Crowley was on site and watched as firefighters contained and put out the fire that severely burned a side of his home.
“My neighbor called me, and I came down here right away. As soon as I got down here, the fire was going already … Certainly, I’m concerned about [my home], the fire did a lot of damage there,” Crowley said.
At 1:04 p.m. the Public Safety Office at Hamline sent an official notice of the incident.
“There is a fire occurring across Snelling Ave at a property not affiliated with the university, hence the smoke. Fire and police are on scene. We will continue to monitor and update if there is any impact to campus,” Illiana Cantu Delgado said. No official announcements were made regarding class closures or other security measures.
Neighbors and passersby stopped in their tracks to watch the chaos. A father and son had stopped their drive to get a closer look at the scene, while others moved in from the surrounding houses. With the increase in crowd, the firefighters remained calm and did not discourage viewers from approaching as the danger had been largely mitigated by that point.
