Officials with American International College are assuring student there will be no interruption of their students after a fire heavily damaged an academic building on the Springfield campus.
The two-alarm fire significantly damaged Courniotes Hall, a two-story brick building that sits on half a city block. It is home to the college’s nursing program and has classroom space used for other health sciences courses.
Within hours of the fire Thursday night, plans were already being made on how to continue the course offerings at the start of the fall semester in just weeks, said AIC President Hubert Benitez.
“We are assuring that every single student will have access to their classes,” he said in a news briefing Friday.
Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno said the city is offering AIC the use of the soon-to-be closed Homer Street School, which is adjacent to the fire-damaged building.
“We’re going to all work together and I know it was a difficult and trying time last night with those terrible storms, but we’re going to get through this.” Sarno said.
The damage caused by the fire is still being assessed. The second floor was gutted by flames. The roof collapsed. The first floor sustained significant water damage.
“It appears it will be a full lose,” Benitez said. “We will preserve the history of Courniotes Hall and we will rebuild it.”
Also lost was scientific equipment used for hands-on training in the nursing program.
“Extremely expensive,” according to Benitez, who said college officials were working to quantify the replacement costs.
Benetiz said he spoke personally Thursday night with Gov. Maura Healey, who reached out to offer the state’s support. Officials with the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency have also contacted college officials.
There’s been an outpouring of community support, said Frank Colaccino, chairman of AIC’s board of trustees.
“We want to thank our neighbors – Springfield College, Western New England University, and STCC for the support they gave us lending us their security personnel during the fire,” Colaccino said.
No one was in the building when the fire broke out at about 5:30 p.m. Thursday.
At the time of the fire, a severe thunderstorm with vivid lighting was rolling through Springfield.
The cause of the fire has not been determined, but a lighting strike has not been ruled out, said Springfield Deputy Fire Chief Michael Hess.
“It was a difficult fire due to the size of the building and the weather conditions,” Hess said. He said the flames had “a good head start” under the roof. Firefighters had to be pulled out of the building for their own safety.
The fire department reported over 300 emergency calls during storms Thursday night for reports of fires, downed wires and trees, and other damage.
