On Jan. 19, 2000, a fire erupted on the third floor of Seton Hall’s Boland Hall. By the end of the night, three students had died in a “prank” that would change the university for years to come.
A new semester was marked by chaos when two students lit a banner on fire in a Boland lounge. They were arrested years later for arson and served short sentences in prison.
Twenty-five years later, the SHU community remembers the tragedy, hosting memorial masses every year to commemorate the incident. This year, SHU did a larger mass to honor the 25th anniversary of the fire, with the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception “filled to capacity” to mourn those lost while commemorating the university community’s growth and resilience.
Fr. Nicolas Sertich, the director of Campus Ministry, was one of the priests who presided over the memorial mass on Jan. 26.
Sertich was seven years old when the fire occurred. He remembers watching the news with his family every day before school and seeing the fire broadcast on that day in 2000, he said.
Sertich said that the memorial mass began with a normal mass followed by a procession and wreath-laying ceremony at the Remembrance Circle in front of Boland Hall. Attendees lit candles to honor the victims of the fire and everyone impacted.
“Many families, emergency personnel, and faculty and staff who worked at Seton Hall during the fire attended the memorial mass,” he said.
Outside of Boland lies a memorial that says, “Remember.”
Boland Hall fire Remembrance Circle at 25th anniversary memorial mass | Photo via Seton Hall University Flickr | The Setonian
“It’s so that anyone who never heard about the fire or was a bystander can remember what happened,” Sertich said.
Sertich said he could connect with the families, faculty, staff, and victims affected by the fire. In one of the memorial masses, he was able to meet a dad whose son passed away in the fire.
“It was heartbreaking to hear, but I think it’s important to have his legacy and the other parents and families remembered and remind us not to forget,” Sertich said.
Prof. Laurence McCarthy, an associate professor in the Stillman School of Business, said that he was at home when a helicopter flew above his house on the day of the fire. With this, he told his wife something was going on and went to check.
McCarthy saw the fire and then saw Msgr. Robert Sheeran, then-president of SHU, attending the press conferences that went on that night and the rest of that day.
McCarthy, alongside Msgr. Sheeran was making calls the whole day notifying parents of the whereabouts of their children who were hospitalized because of the fire and smoke.
McCarthy added that then-governor of New Jersey, Christine Todd Whitman, and then-president Bill Clinton both offered assistance to the university.
“That was a magnificent gesture,” McCarthy said. “The university community pulled together to help and do whatever was needed.”
Kelly Shea, an associate professor of English, was the director of the writing center when the fire occurred. She said that she found out what happened when she arrived on campus the next day.
Prof. Shea said many of the professors knew the students who were in Boland during the fire.
Shea also said that she did not appreciate the “years of denials and cover-ups,” according to northjersey.com, on behalf of the two perpetrators, questioning the six years it took for them to admit their crime.
“I understand being worried and thinking about the worst of what’s going to happen to you because you were responsible for starting the fire,” Shea said. “I just didn’t understand their insistence on not admitting for so long.”
Shea added that she was “proud of the university for taking leadership” in promoting fire safety and installing measures to prevent another incident like the Boland fire.
James Calechman, director of Residence Life, discussed the new fire safety measures implemented in the residence halls following the fire.
“All residence halls have sprinklers, and fire evacuation signs are located in the appropriate locations,” he said.
Calechman also discussed other precautions taken to keep the university community safe.
“We have not had any pranks or false alarms in many years,” Calechman said. “The Residence Life department provides students with extensive fire safety education to underscore the importance of abiding by the Fire Safety policy.”
Students can attend resident assistant (RA) programs that focus on fire safety and prevention as well, Calechman said. Residence Life conducts health and safety inspections to address fire violations and potential hazards.
The tragedy led to critical changes in residence halls and fire safety in New Jersey, as well as across the country. In the aftermath, N.J. passed legislation requiring sprinkler systems in all residence halls, regardless of how old the systems are.
Since 2000, there have been 92 fatal fires on a college campus, in Greek housing, or in off-campus housing within three miles of the campus, claiming a total of 132 victims, according to northjersey.com. However, experts say the number of fatalities would be higher if not for lessons learned after the Boland fire, which also drove schools to improve fire alarm systems and student training.
In addition, the After the Fire documentary featuring survivors Shawn Simons and Alvaro Llanos is shown each year during training for the RA staff.
Simons and Llanos were both badly burned by the fire and now work as motivational speakers. Their recovery process was spotlighted in a Pulitzer Prize-winning series by The Star-Ledger.
“Seton Hall has been nothing but supportive in my recovery efforts,” Simons said. “I always say Seton Hall is my home.”
Simons’ recovery was “mentally and emotionally taxing,” he said. He had to re-learn the basics of movement and go through many sessions of physical therapy to gain back the strength he had before. He was eventually ready to talk about his story, speaking with groups like burn victims in St. Barnabas Hospital.
After adapting to his new skin, he steadily integrated back into society.
“Once I was able to embrace it, my life became a lot easier because I wasn’t worried about what other people said and I was more confident in who I was,” Simon said. “Despite the scarring, my scars tell a story.”
SHU also held a remembrance event with Simons and Llanos on Feb. 18.
Thomas Canela is a writer for The Setonian’s News section. He can be reached at thomas.canela@student.shu.edu.
