Fire destroys Art Department's Foundry

by Sarah R. Buchholz, Chronicle staff

Investigators comb the remains of the Foundry searching for clues to the cause of the Tuesday night blaze that destroyed the 140-year-old building. (Stan Sherer photo)

Tuesday evening two-alarm fire in the Foundry left the building destroyed and an Art class temporarily homeless. No one was inside at the time of the fire.

     University Police, the state fire marshal and building inspector, the Amherst Fire Department and Environmental Health and Safety are investigating the incident.

     The fire was reported at 7:59 p.m. to the Amherst Fire Department via a cell phone call from a passing student, who noticed flames through the window. Although the building contained a fire alarm, it had no sprinkler system. By the time the department could respond, the blaze had fully engulfed the building, according to News Office director Barbara Pitoniak.

     University officials quickly moved to account for all the students in a class that had met in the Foundry until 4:30 that afternoon and a few others known to make use of the facility.

     As the Chronicle went to press Wednesday, no cause for the fire had been determined, according to Ed Mientka, manager of Campus Safety and Fire Prevention.

The Foundry was originally built as a Forestry building. (Teresa A.B. Gauthier photo)

     "It was an older wood-frame structure," he said. "When they get going, they're total losses.

     "We're trying to determine what went wrong and see if there's anything we can do differently."

     Although tanks used in the welding process, including some containing acetylene, exploded during the blaze, the fire department prevented a propane tank outside the building from exploding, Pitoniak said.

     The 140-year-old two-story wood and brick structure, which stood near Durfee Conservatory, was originally built as a conservation building that was used by the Forestry Department until 1963. The Art Department had been using it to teach metal working.

     The fire has displaced ART 363, "3-D Studies: Welding," taught by Art professor Patricia Lasch. Department chair Ronald Michaud said Art is looking for a site from which the course can be completed but that there had been enough work completed and evaluated for the semester to be concluded successfully.