Plant collection ‘largely intact’ after fire at university

BURLINGTON, Vt. – A University of Vermont official says a plant collection is “largely intact” following a fire at a building that houses the Pringle Herbarium, the third largest herbarium in New England and the world’s largest repository of Vermont flora.

The fire Thursday is believed to have started when construction workers were soldering copper, but an official investigation is underway. Most of the damage was on the building’s exterior.

Pringle Herbarium Director David Barrington says there is some damage to materials that hasn’t been processed yet. There appears to be no damage to the separate Zadock Thompson collection of animal specimens.

The herbarium contains more than 300,000 plant samples.

Two fire service personnel suffered minor injuries.

The building was constructed in 1863 and is on the National Register of Historic Places.