Ticket stubs and salamanders

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(Image: Ohio Stadium fire, 1947) Fire at the Stadium, by contrast, is more frequently the result of carelessness. Stadium groundskeeper Tony Aquila called in an April 1937 blaze, allegedly caused by "combustion in ticket stubs of last year's football games stored near steam pipes." The fire, which caused $2,500 in damage to the southwest tower, was hailed as a blessing in disguise for the OSU baseball nine, requiring the purchase of 40 pairs of shoes, three dozen bats and a dozen jackets. On March 17, 1947, during construction of three new sections of Stadium Dorms, sparks from a salamander heater ignited a pile of lumber near Gate 19. Fire quickly spread north and south, twisting steel girders in the dormitory structure. With students out of the dorms for spring break, the three-alarm fire injured no one. During the next quarter, 44 men bunked temporarily in a Tower Club dining hall. A similar fire occurred in April 1960, during renovation of the dorms, forcing students to evacuate.