According to Amherst Fire Department Chief Keith Hoyle, a candle ignited a mattress in a bedroom on the first floor of the house and eventually spread throughout. Hoyle said that a resident discovered the candle and initially used two portable fire extinguishers to extinguish the fire. But the fact that the fire was spreading was not reported for some time. According to Hoyle, the smoke detectors in the house had been covered, which prevented the operation of the normal warning system. Hoyle added that when the call from the residents at the house came in, the caller simply said, "Big fire, come quick."
When the emergency call came in at 2:14 p.m., the E-911 system, which is used to speed up the process of reporting to a scene, incorrectly reported the address of the house as 778 North Pleasant, rather than the correct address of 178 North Pleasant. However, it also gave the name of the house, Hoyle said, and that aided the firefighters in getting to the scene by 2:17 p.m.
Many residents at the fraternity lost all of their belongings in the fire, not only leaving them without clothes or food, but without housing as well. The residents were originally put up in the Campus Center Hotel at UMass. They are now living either in the University Lodge on North Pleasant Street or in different fraternity houses. The residents can also able obtain clothing from the local Red Cross.
Many residents lost textbooks in the fire as well, and the University has agreed to send out letters to professors asking them to be lenient with the affected residents over the next few weeks. The University has also started a "small loan fund" in order for the residents to replace textbooks.
In the days since the incident, the state fire marshall's office has decided to bring Delta Upsilon and two other fraternities, as well as the University, up on counts of "disabling a fire protection system" for covering the smoke detectors in the house. Two other fraternities, Lambda Chi Alpha and Phi Mu Delta, were discovered to be at fault when the marshall's office called for an inspection of every fraternity and sorority at UMass.
"I have not received anything, including a summons or charges from anywhere, therefore I really don't have anything to say," said Michael McCormick, president of Phi Mu Delta fraternity.
Michael Wiseman, a member of the Greek Affairs Staff at UMass, said that, in the past, fire drills were voluntary and up to the fraternity or sorority to practice them. Now each and every fraternity and sorority will be required to hold them.
Brothers from the Delta Upsilon and Lambda Chi Fraternities were not available for comment.