Written by Public Relations
Harding University administrators were notified Thursday morning of a fire in the university-owned villa in Florence, Italy.
According to Robbie Shackelford, director of Harding University in Florence, no one was in the facility when the fire was discovered. Students were away on free travel and are not expected to return to the villa until Friday night.
Staff members at the campus were also out of the building when the fire started.
The fire was apparently caused when a backhoe, working on an adjacent property, cut an electrical line, shorting out the electrical system in the villa. Fire damage to the villa is centered in upstairs rooms, but most of the structure also suffered smoke damage.
Damage to the building is currently being assessed. No estimate of damage has been determined.
Arrangements have been made to locally house the students displaced by the fire. Faculty and staff on site are attempting to minimize the disruption to the fall classes at HUF.
More details to come as officials assess damages Friday.
