Virginia
Fire erupts on campus of former Virginia Intermont College: ‘A tragedy for our city’
A large fire consumed multiple buildings Friday morning on the former Virginia Intermont College campus in what one city official called “a tragedy for our city.”
Videos shared on social media and captured by local news outlets show the massive blaze engulfing structures at the historic college campus. Located in Bristol in western Virginia along the Tennessee border, Virginia Intermont College closed in 2014.
Neal Osborne, a city councilman in Bristol, shared video of the blaze on Facebook, which he said had become “a full inferno” of the college’s main hall by 1:15 a.m.
“There’s no way around it – this is very bad and this is a tragedy for our city, this is a tragedy for our neighborhood, this is a tragedy for everyone who attended Virginia Intermont College,” Osborne said in the post. “This is heartbreaking to see this.”
USA TODAY left a phone message Friday morning with the Bristol Fire Department seeking an update on the fire.
City councilman: Property owners ‘will have to answer’ for why fire erupted
The fire could be seen in videos burning the main building on campus, as well as adjacent structures. News crews with WJHL-TV reported observing the building collapse after 2 a.m.
Bristol police and firefighters were at the scene, and Osborne said in his video that firefighters from surrounding localities and departments also responded to provide additional aid.
Osborne said he and other city officials had for years pushed the owners of the private property to care for the aging infrastructure, but that those concerns “fell on deaf ears every single time.”
“They will have to answer for this in my mind,” Osborne said. “They will have to answer for why this property was not secured, why they did not take proactive steps to prevent this from happening.”
What is the Virginia Intermont College?
Constructed within view of the Blue Ridge Mountain range, Virginia Intermont College was founded in the late 1800s as an institute for women to get a higher education. It later become coeducational before it was finally shuttered in May 20, 2014 due to financial failure and the loss of its accreditation, the Roanoke Times reported.
Friday morning’s blaze is not the first time a fire has broken out on the closed campus.
Following a previous fire in November, Bristol Fire Chief Mike Armstrong told WJHL that the site was “dangerous” and said his crews prioritized fighting fires without stepping foot inside the aging buildings.
“The floors are rotten, the windows are broken out, the roofs are rotten. And it’s just not safe to be in there with all the debris, the broken glass,” Armstrong said. “I can tell you within the last 12 months, we’ve had multiple fires up here.”
Bristol Vice-Mayor Jake Holmes told WJHL that the site had fallen into disrepair and had become “a hazard.”
Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com