Eliot House Begins Fire Cleanup

After Sunday’s fire in its Grille, Eliot House has started to clean the soot and repair the fire damage, a task expected to take three weeks or more.

While Superintendent Francisco A. Medeiros is still reviewing bids from contractors to do the bulk of the clean-up, he has hired Able Restoration Inc. to clean student rooms and some of the kitchen area.

Able Restoration started its work Wednesday, and had planned to finish yesterday afternoon, though it was unclear last night whether the work was completed.

“We are taking all the heavy soot from the boiler room, where the fire started, and cleaning the [student] rooms,” said Steve Lyndon, a supervisor at Able Restoration.

Medeiros said he does not know how much the cleanup will cost.

When Thea B. Johnson ’03 and her roommates returned to their room after the fire, they found all their belongings covered in soot.

“We had left our windows open and our door open. Our common room got really trashed,” Johnson said.

She said people were hired to launder their clothing, blankets and futon cover, and Able Restoration cleaned their floors, walls, bathroom and desks.

“Its actually probably cleaner now than before the fire,” Johnson said. “So actually we are very lucky.”

Johnson and her roommates, said they planned to sleep in their room last night for the first time since the fire.

Gerald Reardon, chief of the Cambridge Fire Department, said yesterday that investigators believe the fire began in cooking equipment. The fire caused an evacuation of Eliot House for several hours Sunday night.