It was just before 9:15 p.m. on April 24, 2001 when Longwood student Philip Shaw made the call to Campus Police saying there was smoke coming from Ruffner. According to Longwood Press Releases from that time and the summer 2001 edition of Longwood Magazine, officers responded within just minutes, asking for any available fire personnel to respond.
Officers worked diligently to evacuate students, a total of some 350, from the Colonnades Residence Halls, which included French and South Ruffner, Tabb, and South Tabb. Thos students were moved to Lancer Gym in Willett Hall and asked to check in and call home, so parents would know they were okay. Mattresses were set up in the gym, but many shacked up in their friends' rooms. Nobody had to sleep in the gym that night.
When Farmville Fire Chief Tim McKay arrived on scene, West Ruffner was a total loss. McKay contacted then-Longwood President Dr. Patricia Cormier and then-Longwood Executive Vice President for Administration and Finance Dave Harnage along with then-Farmville Police Chief Stuart Dunnavant. Town Manger Gerald Spates is also contacted in reference to gathering together town equipment if needed.
A grand total of 181 firefighters from 11 departments, as far away as Appomattox, fought the flames for over 29 hours. They used over three million gallons of water to extinguish the flames that overtook the entirety of West Ruffner and East Ruffner so quickly. They watched as the Rotunda fell to the ground sometime between 9:30 and 10 p.m. April 24.
When daylight broke on April 25, all that remains is rubble and a few hotspots that firefighters work to drown out. Somehow, still standing, are the walls of Grainger Hall, even though the rest of the building is either flooded or heavily burned.
At 11 a.m., a packed crowd of the campus community gathered in Jarman Auditorium. Cormier said the remaining classes for the semester as well as final exams were cancelled. She said final grades for the semester would be based on what has already been completed. Also, the news was announced that all students must leave campus by Saturday, April 28 and students living in the Colonnades Residence Halls were not allowed to re-enter their rooms before the move-out date. Likewise, faculty had to refrain from entering into Grainger to retrieve items from their offices.
To assist in recovery efforts, the Commonwealth of Virginia hired INRECON, a recovery specialist company. They were able to clear refuse, dry out buildings and recover property from both residence halls and offices affected by fire and water.
While INRECON did the work on the ground, many wondered how they too might be able to donate. For that, Longwood established The Rotunda Fund.
Temporary offices, in the form of gray trailers, were set up behind Greenwood Library for displaced faculty members. The University of Virginia helped Longwood reprint some 5,000 Commencement programs needed for graduation that were destroyed in the blaze.
The days continued until graduation, May 12. Finally students, assisted by Resident Education Coordinators and professional movers, are allowed to retrieve belongings in French and South Tabb on May 3. From May 7 until 10, South Ruffner and Tabb residents are able to retrieve their items. Makeshift drying stations are established on the tennis courts behind Tabb to allow larger items, such as furniture, to air out.
Faculty members were still barred from Grainger. However, INRECON teams placed items on carts and moved them from the building so faculty could scour through them to see what they wanted to try and salvage. Drying areas were set up in the basement of Blackwell to help with that process.
At Commencement, the Longwood Bell still rang, a staple since its establishment in 1897 moved from South Ruffner to Greenwood Library. By summer 2001, The Rotunda Fund received over $175,000. Luckily, much of the Ruffner's history was salvaged; most of it was removed prior to the beginning of the restoration that was occurring at the time of the fire. A number of paintings, including those of former college presidents, and Joanie on the Stony, had been relocated to other campus buildings.
Cormier made a vow the morning of April 25 when she said, "The Ruffners and Grainger are going to be rebuilt." Her promise came true just four short years later. While the walls stood once again, almost identical as they did before, history could not be replaced. The stone slate no longer stands where it once did. Countless works and papers have been lost. However, not a life was lost. Neither were the memories. Those made then and those still being made today.
