Residents of Adams House A-entry escaped unharmed yesterday afternoon from a fire which caused extensive damage to several rooms and forced the Adams dining hall manager to cancel lunch.

Although police and fire officials have not yet determined the cause of the blaze, residents of A-entry said yesterday they believe the fire began when flammable soot, which had been building up in the chimney for a long time, caught fire and sent sparks shooting out of the fireplace into an empty room.

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes

At 11:37 a.m. a student reported the fire, which filled the third floor of A-entry with smoke. The smoke and the flooding caused by fire hoses and water sprinklers caused most of the damage, Jack W. Morse, Harvard police captain, said yesterday.

Water leaking through three floors flooded the Adams House kitchen, Robert T. Martin, dining hall manager, said yesterday, adding that he cancelled lunch so workmen could clean up the mess.

Robert J. Kiely, master of Adams House, said last night that Lowell House is providing rooms for the 20 students who were forced out of their rooms by the fire, until Buildings and Grounds workers can repair the damage.

A-entry students will probably by able to move back into their rooms by tomorrow.