American International College Building Set Ablaze by Lightning Strike

SPRINGFIELD — Courniotes Hall on the campus of American International College (AIC) was struck by lightning around 5 p.m. Thursday afternoon, causing a massive fire. Springfield firefighters fought the blaze during a severe thunderstorm.

Campus police performed a walk-through to ensure that no students, faculty, or staff were inside and that the building was cleared. Courniotes Hall houses AIC’s nursing program and provides classroom space for additional health-sciences courses. While there is significant damage to the building, AIC’s leadership pledged to take all actions necessary to ensure students are provided with continuity in their course of studies this fall.

“AIC is known for its resilience, and we will come back stronger than ever thanks to the help of our community,” AIC President Hubert Benitez said. “We want to sincerely thank our first responders, including Springfield fire and police departments, as well as our campus police, who acted swiftly to help mitigate further damage to our campus.”