By: Jack Cote
A car went up in flames just after 4:00 AM in NEC’s River Lot on Jan. 11 and the vehicle is totaled, according to fire officials.
The fire happened on the same day that NEC students travelled back to campus to start the spring semester. While students often spend the day before classes getting ready for the semester ahead, Vanillison Andrade was notified by Campus Safety early Monday morning that his car was on fire. At first, he thought that it was a prank.
“I was like, this is a joke. There is definitely no way somebody [is] banging on my door this early in the morning,” he said.
The car suffered major damages and was picked up by a local towing company. Andrade is a freshman and he said that without a car, being on campus would be tough for him. He has moved off campus and switched to remote learning for the remainder of the school year.
Henniker Fire Chief Jim Morse said the fire caused minor damage to two cars nearby. The cause is unclear, but he said there was no sign of foul play.
“Chances are it was a wiring issue, but it would be very hard to prove what caused it because
it burned so bad,” he said.
