With a room that smells of a new coat of paint past a hallway that still reeks of smoke, Susanna Kirk '95-'97 is constantly reminded of last Friday night's fire in her fourth-floor Currier House single.

A psychology concentrator and creative writer, Kirk lost her "entire life's work" in the accident, including seven handwritten hard-cover manuscripts.

According to Kirk, the fire began next to her bookcase and set all of her books ablaze.

Neither Kirk nor Cambridge fire department officials have pinpointed the cause of the fire.

Inspector Lawrence Buchanan of the fire department said that the incident "is still under investigation" and that the official report will be completed tomorrow.

Shift supervisor Albert Philip of University Operations Services said that there was an "unconfirmed report" that a "lighted cigarette" started the fire.

Smoking was banned last year in all Currier House rooms.

However, Kirk maintains that she was not smoking in her room on Friday evening.

Kirk said she lit a candle while she cleaned her room earlier that evening. She said that an undoused match in the trash can could have started the fire.

Kirk said she is currently "dealing with the Ad Board" as a result of the incident.

"Whenever a fire occurs in someone's room, they have to respond. It is an offense to have anything burning in your room," she said.

She said she was grateful to her housemates and tutors for supporting her as she copes with the threat of disciplinary action and the loss of her possessions.

"Everyone in the house has been extremely helpful," she said. "I am thankful for the Currier House staff who were quick to make my room habitable again."

Kirk said she stayed with a friend for four nights while the damage was repaired. Upon returning to Gilbert 402, she borrowed bed linens to replace those destroyed in the fire.

Unbeknownst to Kirk, one of her friends, Jeffrey M. Goldfarb '97, spent a meal in the Currier Dining Hall "gathering some funds" from students to help Kirk pay for the damage.