An employee from Belfor a propery restoration company cleans debris out of a common room on the third floor of Morton Hall at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H., on Oct. 3, 2016. A fire broke out over the weekend in the dorm, displacing students. Balfor does not allow employees to give their names. (Valley News - Jennifer Hauck) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com.
An employee from Belfor a propery restoration company cleans debris out of a common room on the third floor of Morton Hall at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H., on Oct. 3, 2016. A fire broke out over the weekend in the dorm, displacing students. Balfor does not allow employees to give their names. (Valley News - Jennifer Hauck) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com. Credit: Valley News — Jennifer Hauck

Hanover — Dartmouth College has relocated the students displaced by a four-alarm fire early Saturday morning in Morton Hall, a dormitory off East Wheelock Street. The building will stay closed through at least the fall, administrators said.

Dartmouth officials on Monday said they were still determining the extent and cost of the damage, which burned out portions of the roof but did not result in any injuries to students. A Dartmouth news office account said the building suffered structural damage, and an email on Monday from Dartmouth President Phil Hanlon said, “Morton Hall is no longer habitable and will have to be completely rehabilitated.”

Town records place the replacement cost for the entire building, not just the roof, at about $4.2 million.

State fire investigators say students caused the blaze by leaving a hibachi-style grill unattended on “a flat section of roof outside a dorm window.” The fire was called in just after midnight on Saturday, and emergency responders had it under control by around 6:30 a.m., according to a college news release.

Whether or not there will be repercussions for the students, who have not been identified publicly, is unclear. Dartmouth spokeswoman Diana Lawrence said she could not comment on an ongoing internal process, but noted that college policy forbids climbing on campus buildings and the use of grills in dorm rooms. Lawrence also said that the 70 or so students living in Morton had been housed in available campus rooms, apartments and other real estate holdings.

“We were able to keep most roommate groups together or in close proximity, and to accommodate students with medical and/or disability-related needs,” she said in an email on Monday.

Hanlon also gave the Dartmouth community an update via email on Monday.

“We are all grateful that no one was injured in the fire, certainly the most important outcome,” he wrote. “This event will have a lasting impact on the residents of Morton Hall, but our students and our local responders are safe and for that I give thanks.”

Hanlon said some of the students had lost “all of their possessions,” and that college officials and the Red Cross had worked through the night to supply them with emergency provisions.

“But the disruption to the students is profound,” he added, “and some of the things they lost are irreplaceable. I met with the residents of Morton on Saturday to express my support for them. I know that all members of our community will show compassion to these students at this difficult time.”

Hanlon also expressed his “enormous gratitude” to emergency workers from Hanover, Lebanon, Enfield, Claremont, Hartford, Norwich, Thetford, Bradford (Vt.), Windsor and Hartland; to the Lyme FAST Squad and Upper Valley Ambulance; and to such businesses as the Hanover Inn and E&R Cleaners.

“At this difficult time, I am reminded of the importance of community, how much we rely on the help and goodwill of others, and how essential it is for each of us to support our friends and neighbors,” he said. “I am moved and humbled to be a part of such a remarkable community.”