"We were awakened by the firemen," said Matthew A. Stratton '00. "They were clearing us out and they were really scared."

Passing his neighbors' room, Stratton said the hall was "pretty smoky." The fire-fighters asked the residents of F-44 who they were, "and where the girls were. That's what they wanted to know," he said.

Schwab and Sommovilla said they left a message on the answering machine of House resident tutor Mary Ellen Lennon.

"The House tutor knew where we were," Sommovilla said.

Students credit Lennon, who lives two floors below, with helping to extinguish the fire. Lennon refused to discuss the fire yesterday.

The smell of smoke lingered in the entryway yesterday and a large, sickle-shaped scar is visible on the wooden door of F-45.

A Gore Hall resident who spoke on the condition of anonymity said "there was a slow response [to the fire] all around. There was a slow response from the students."

Cambridge Deputy Fire Chief Jerry Reardon was unavailable for comment yesterday.

Winthrop Co-Master Cynthia Rosenberger yesterday declined to comment on the fire.