As flames emerged from the roof of Blair Hall Wednesday afternoon, students and faculty in the crowd of hundreds on Seventh Street stood in awe with cameras and cell phones attached to their heads.

Many passers-by instinctively grabbed their cameras and camcorders to document the fire engulfing one of Eastern’s most historical buildings.

Eric Jensen, senior computer information systems major, said he had just finished taking a test when he saw the blaze. He immediately grabbed for his cell phone, which was equipped with a camera, and began snapping shots.

After minutes of using his cell phone he rushed back to his room at the Millennium apartment complex to get a better camera.

“I ran back really fast to get it,” Jensen said. “I took pictures with my phone, but decided it doesn’t zoom in good enough.”

Scott Clements, sophomore music major, stood with his camcorder on the sidewalk of Seventh Street catching every moment.

“I had to get this because this was a benchmark thing in the college’s lifetime,” Clements said.

Many other students rushed back to residence halls and apartments for a chance to capture the shocking moment.

Marsha Lawhead, secretary to the university attorney, was home at the time when her husband called to say her place of employment was on fire. She had left for the moment to run some errands and was on her way back to the office.

“I had no idea it was going to be this bad,” Lawhead said. “My husband called me on his cell phone and was happy to find out I was OK.”

Residents of Park Place Apartments, which is right across the street from Blair, were concerned with the proximity of the fire.

“I had to rush back to close my windows,” Ashley Pelichoff, junior elementary education major, said. “I wanted to close them so the smoke wouldn’t get in there.”

University and Charleston Police Departments worked to clear the way for trucks and firefighters, eventually moving people back beyond the Park Place Apartments on Seventh Street.

The crowd began to clear as the sun set and the fire crews continued working to contain the fire.