Fire Destroys Interior of Bat Club; Students Cheer Cambridge Firemen

A large-scale blaze swept through the Bat Club last night, gutting the interiors of the second and third floors of the 53 Mt. Auburn St. building. A crowd of about 300 cheering, yelling students braved the below-freezing temperatures and crowded the streets for 45 minutes to watch the fire.

Deputy fire chief William Cremins said that the amount of the loss could not be immediately determined, but would run into the thousands of dollars. The fire evidently started from a cigarette butt smouldering in a couch in the Club's TV room.

Building Unoccupied

No Club members were in the building during the blaze; most of the members were attending a Punch at the Club Khayyam in Boston. "News of the fire came as a complete surprise to us," Paul J. Keaney '59, Social Chairman, said early this morning.

Police Sergeant John McMahon spoted smoke issuing from a window at about 11:15 p.m. His alarm brought two hook-and-ladder units and three engine companies. Firemen entered through the Club entrance on Bow St. and fought the blaze from the interior.

When firemen smashed through the Club's windows to admit hose lines students chanted "Hit 'em Again Harder" and expressed loud approval of the Fire Department's quick action. Blazing curtains and pieces of woodwork were hurled out the window, narrowly missing a parked car and once hitting a fire fighter directly on the head.

Insurance Covers Damage

Insurance will cover the cost of damage to the building and to the Club's interior. Firemen broke down walls in the television room, and the Club bar was destroyed. No damage was caused, however, to the Cafe Mozart or to the Gold Coast Valeteria, which occupy the ground floor.

Another fire early Saturday morning caused several thousand dollars damage at the Lampoon building. This blaze destroyed a fifteenth-century fireplace and damaged a wall. The caretaker of the building had tried to extinguish the fire, but it broke out again and attracted the attention of a passing policeman at about 7 a.m. The fireplace may be reconstructed, "but it will be very expensive," Perry M. Smith '59, president of the Lampoon, commented.