Virginia Intermont College fire: Blaze consumes several buildings

On By Littum

A large fire consumed several buildings Friday morning on the former Virginia Intermont College campus in what a 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 on the historic university campus. Located in Bristol, West Virginia along the Tennessee border, Virginia Intermont College closed in 2014.

Neal Osborne, a Bristol city councillor, shared video of the fire on Facebookwhich he said had become “a full inferno” of the college’s main hall at 01.15

“There is 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. “It’s heartbreaking to see this.”

USA TODAY left a phone message Friday morning with the Bristol Fire Department for an update on the fire.

Government shutdown 2024: Will a Government Shutdown Affect Social Security Checks? Here’s what you need to know

City council member: Property owners ‘must answer’ for why there was a fire

The fire could be seen in videos burning the main building on campus, as well as adjacent structures. News team with WJHL-TV reported sighting the collapse of the building after 02.00

Bristol police and firefighters were on the scene, and Osborne said in his video that firefighters from surrounding locations and departments also responded to provide additional assistance.

Osborne said he and other city officials had been pushing the private property owners for years to take care of the aging infrastructure, but those concerns “fell on deaf ears every single time.”

“They’re going to 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 Virginia Intermont College?

Built overlooking the Blue Ridge Mountains, Virginia Intermont College was founded in the late 1800s as an institute for women to obtain a higher education. It later became co-educational before it was finally closed on 20 May 2014 due to financial failure and loss of its accreditation, the Roanoke Times reported.

Friday morning’s fire is not the first time a fire has broken out on the closed campus.

After 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 setting 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 in the last 12 months, we’ve had several fires up here.”

Bristol Deputy Mayor Jake Holmes told WJHL the site had fallen into disrepair and had become “a hazard.”

Eric Lagatta covers the latest and trending news for USA TODAY. Contact him at [email protected]