The Westcott Building once the main entrance to Florida State University's campus, blocks from the bustling streets of downtown Tallahassee.

Just one glance down College Avenue and you're caught by the grandeur and beauty of the Jacobean style architecture.

Westcott has become a symbol of Florida State University.

But on one spring day in 1969, this symbol was almost lost.

Sunday, April 27, 1969.

It started off as a typical sunny spring afternoon, but amidst the towering palms and scenic beauty, towers of smoke began to billow from the Westcott Building.

At approximately 5 p.m., a student driving nearby noticed the smoke and promptly alerted the authorities.

Within minutes, fire trucks rushed to the scene.

Stanley Marshall was the university president at that time and just like everyone else, he was caught off guard.

I was attending a swimming party at the home of a friend, Phil Lehman, who was a member of the faculty.

We were swimming in the pool in his backyard and I got a call that Westcott was burning.

So I jumped out of my swimsuit into my Bermuda shorts and made a dash for a Westcott.

As Marshall arrived, he was greeted by fire trucks and a crowd of spectators.

Surveying the damage and looking towards the fire consuming the historic building, there's one important thing going through his mind.

I have some very sensitive security papers provided to me by the police in a locked drawer in my desk, and I must get those.

They cannot fall into the hands of anybody else because they're a very sensitive material about students and some faculty, frankly.

And I was very much concerned about what would happen to those papers.

So I found a rugged looking policeman turned out to be Larry Campbell.

Today, Larry Campbell still wears a uniform, but now is Sheriff of Leon County.

I'm standing around watching the fire and watching what's going on.

And all of a sudden, Dr. Marshall appeared, said hi to him and we stood there.

He asked me if we had any ideas.

Not a this point.

It's a little know too early.

And he says, I've got some very important papers and things in my office that I need to get out of there.

Can I go in there?

So as far as I'm concerned, you can go in there.

I don't know about these firemen.

They might not let you.

He said, Well, will you go with me?

I didn't have the keys in those Bermuda shorts.

Of course.

He grabbed the firemen's ax and we went upstairs to my office on the south in the north end of the building then, and attacked my desk with a fireman’s ax..

It was pretty, pretty exciting going in because were hoses and and the big trucks and everything and going up in the water, rushing out were the hoses were going in.

And we went to his office, which actually is on the second floor of the building.

Most people think it's ground floor, but it's not.

And there were firemen in the halls pulling hoses down.

They had on their bunker coats and their big fireman hats and and you could see fire and you could see the smoke was everywhere and water was pouring through the ceiling and we needed to get into the file cabinets.

Broke open the desk and person and carried them out.

Found a student that I didn't know, but he looked like he would be a reliable type.

And I said, I'm giving you a pile of papers and I want you to hold those.

Give them to nobody else.

Just hold them until I get a chance to come back and pick them up.

By the time they were done, firemen were perched high on their ladders, dousing the flames.

Fire hoses slithered like snakes on the pavement while firefighters raced into the building.

Tallahassee and FSU police were busy blocking off the growing crowd of onlookers.

Many students in the crowd grew weary of standing idle while the building was in danger, so they decided to take action.

Dozens of students, ranging from fraternity men to bikini clad women, braved the smoke and confusion to save Westcott artifacts and records.

Some priceless, some practical.

And that's what those heroic students did.

They were going into the building, carrying out files and papers and paintings and furniture and anything they could get their hands on.

And they got their hands on everything they could.

One student even saved a four foot potted plant, which brought cheers from the surrounding crowd.

Bill Tanner was FSU police chief in 1969.

He witnessed the fire, the crowd and the heroics.

His duty that day was to ensure the safety of the public and the daring students running inside.

They weren't in any real danger at the time.

The fire, as I recall, and again, we're talking about a long time ago that was confined mostly to the back side of the building, only the fourth floor.

So I don't think it was in any real danger at the time if there had been we’d have gotten them out of the building.

These volunteers saved items by any means necessary.

After a fireman smashed a hole through a third story window, students used the new exit to drop adding machines, typewriters and other office equipment onto a tarp held below.

After 2 hours, the flames were finally subdued, and thanks to the students valiant efforts, all of the student records and transcripts were saved.

As the smoke cleared and the firemen began to make their way back home.

Work was just getting started for Campbell.

As chief detectives with the sheriff.

Part of my responsibility would be to help conduct the investigation if it was arson.

The investigation was conducted by multi-agency.

There were a number of people from the University Police Department, the Tallahassee Police Department, the Leon County Sheriff's Office.

Some federal agencies were monitoring the investigation, if you will.

And then insurance and you know all the arson people, state fire, marshal's office.

And the investigation basically would find out, you know, did somebody throw a firebomb?

A lot of rumors go down or something like this.

Remember the tumultuous times?

This was in 1960?

There were lots of problems on campuses all over the country, including Florida State.

The fire started in this area here on the fourth floor back in 1969.

This part of the building housed the art department.

In the end, the investigators found there was nothing to prove the fire was set intentionally.

We couldn't find a good reason for it having been accidental either.

Now, there's no way to know bare electrical wires or anything of that kind.

But we found no evidence of arson, so we assumed that we wanted to believe it was not arson.

And I continue to believe that.

While conducting the investigation, there was another matter to take care of the thousands of scattered documents, hundreds of pieces of office equipment and over 200 displaced workers all in need of facilities.

We had some nearby parking lots, and I think some of the stuff was just put there because luckily it was raining that day.

It was clear weather and they called in people from the maintenance area with trucks and stuff to hold the stuff away.

Volunteers loaded the equipment and records onto the trucks that night and in the following days, moved it to various locations throughout the campus.

To get acquainted with new quarters and the relations between and among officers.

But when I think back on that, I don't think that gave us that much trouble.

You know, we had just we realized that we had just dodged a bullet, a very serious thought.

We had saved the Westcott building.

And I think it was a great friend, a sense of relief, being able knowing we were going to rebuild that building.

The interior of the Westcott Building had to be gutted and replaced.

The final cost for the repairs were $3.2 million and took seven years to complete.

The selfless actions of those students were considered just as valuable.

Two days after the fire, the Florida legislature passed a resolution praising the heroism of these students.

Many years have passed since the day Westcott was almost lost, and those who are there still reflect on the importance of that day.

What stands out as one of the major things that happened while I was at FSU and along with the some things happened but it's a memory that we will have for a long time.

I think the fact that so much of our history was in jeopardy, there was was a big deal.

That was a very exciting time to be part of the university.

I consider myself too fortunate to have been a part of it and played a small role and it has.

It brings back lots of great memories.

Today, the immense walls of the Westcott Building stands strong, echoing the heroism of the past and beckoning to future Florida State University students, asking them to remember that beneath the beauty and the stone is a spirit that will never die.

I'm John Rogers with 4FSU remembers when the Westcott Fire.