AMHERST, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) - Several students returned, or visited for the first time, the scene of the Olympia Place fire in Amherst to witness the devastation with their own eyes.

Nicholas Parikh, one of those UMass Amherst students who lost everything in the fire, says he’s worried about how he will get home to Chicago for Thanksgiving without his ID or passport, meanwhile he’s sleeping on his friend’s couch.

“I’m still homeless at the moment, still trying to figure out where I’m going to stay for the rest of the semester.”

Northeast Fire Investigation also scoped out the scene, trying to figure out how this massive fire got started in the first place.

Western Mass News has been reporting that the university is asking the public for donations for the 232 homeless individuals.

Students we spoke with off camera at the site on Monday were grateful for the support from the university and other organizations, but most importantly the individual meetings for the school to assess the needs of each student.

Still, those impacted have not yet received any financial support from the UMass Amherst Foundation Student Care and Emergency Response Fund.

That fund, which has been in place since 2020, collects and distributes emergency financial support to students who are impacted by unprecedented events such as this one.

Western Mass News spoke with Emily Gest, the Associate Vice Chancellor for News and Media Relations at UMass, and she tells us as of Monday, those funds have not yet been distributed, because this is an evolving situation and the school is still assessing the needs of the students.

David Borawski, a junior also impacted by this weekend’s events, explains to us how he feels about the university’s response thus far.

“We haven’t received any finances from the school yet, but I do support the University’s response overall, and I think they’ve been doing fantastic and rising above and beyond. I don’t expect those funds to be distributed soon, but they should be distributed based on need.”

Those impacted that we spoke with over the weekend shared that the UMass community has really stepped up, not only financially, but also with their words.

Ashutosh Budhathoki, another UMass student, told us, “If I could just add something, it’s really amazing seeing complete strangers walk up to you and they ask you, oh, how are you doing? Are you okay? Do you have a place to stay? So, the community around, like, UMass and just like the, I guess, bonding that can go through some traumatic experience like this is really powerful.”

A link to that donation page and a webpage with all the latest updates regarding the fire at Olympia Place can be found here on our website.

We have reached out to the owners of Olympia Place for their comment on the matter, but we have not yet heard back.

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