A fire Sunday night in the Eliot House Grille forced residents to evacuate the House. It is unclear when, if at all, the Grille will re-open.

A fire in the Eliot House Grille Sunday night left residents standing outside in the cold and caused smoke damage in the House tunnels and some student rooms.

Fire alarms sounded shortly after 8 p.m. and the Cambridge Fire Department (CFD) was on the scene within five minutes.

By the time the fire had been extinguished, eight fire trucks responded to the scene, along with rescue units, ambulances, and eight Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) officers.

“The firemen were very quick to come,” said Eliot Co-Master Lino Pertile. “By 9 o’clock the fire had been extinguished.”

It was another two hours before residents in entryways A through G were allowed into their rooms and after midnight before the rest of the House was reopened.

“The three hours were spent coping with the smoke and the investigation, and it took us a while to get the place back into order and check each room and entryway,” Pertile said.

CFD officials were unavailable for comment yesterday, but Pertile said that he had been told on Sunday night by investigators that the cause was probably an electrical problem in the kitchen of the Grille.

Robert A. Cacace ’03, an employee of the Grille who is also a Crimson editor, said that another Grille employee working between 4 and 6 p.m. Sunday did not see any problems.

Although actual fire damage was limited to the kitchen of the grille, HUPD Sgt. Kevin P. Bryant said that the fire caused “significant” smoke damage to the Eliot tunnels and to some students rooms located above the tunnels.

“Pretty much everything is covered in soot,” said Caryn P. Davies ’04, whose O-entryway room was one of the closest to the fire. “It isn’t really noticeable at first, but if you run your hand over anything it comes out all black. Everything also smells like smoke. I have to wash everything in my closet.”

Like many other Eliot residents, Davies said she did not think that the fire alarms were real.

“I thought it was just a fire drill, but when I went into the hallway it was filled with smoke,” she said.

Clara H. Shen ’02, who is also a Crimson editor, was in the shower when she heard the alarm.

“I considered staying in my room, but I saw that my roommates were all gone and I grabbed a bathrobe and a towel, and left,” she said.

Pertile stressed that students need to take fire alarms seriously.