Fire engulfs student apartment

Flames broke out in the University Commons townhouses late Saturday night, gutting one unit and damaging another.

Ed Sobolewski, the owner of the Haines Street property, said he was told the fire was caused by a candle, but the fire marshal has yet to make an official ruling.

The blaze began shortly before 11 p.m., said John H. Farrell IV, spokesman for the Aetna Hose, Hook and Ladder Company. When firefighters arrived, there were flames billowing out of the second-story window of 131 Haines St., and threatening the apartment next door, he said.

The fire was under control by 11:05 p.m., Farrell said. More than 60 firefighters from five companies helped extinguish the blaze.

“What was burning upon arrival was quickly contained, and after we arrived the fire did not progress any further,” he said.

Farrell said the second floor of 131 Haines St. sustained extensive damage and the first floor suffered moderate damage.

Senior Sloane Doud said her house located at 129 Haines St. also sustained moderate damage.

“There is smoke damage, and then they had to tear down a lot of the walls between our house and their house,” Doud said. “They had to spray it with water and there is insulation everywhere.”

Residents of the involved properties were allowed to return to the apartment Monday to recover personal items. 

“Our landlord and property manager are putting us in a hotel for the next week until they get the house fixed,” Doud said. 

Sobolewski said that he has offered the tenants of 131 Haines Street a new townhouse to reside in for the rest of the school year.

Senior Eric Vernacchio, who lives a few houses from where the fire broke out, said he and some of his guests were in his home Saturday night when they smelled smoke and when outside to see what was happening.

“We looked out the window and we saw flames. I opened the door and there were like 30 people across the street,” he said. “Everybody just ran out of the house.”

After standing outside for approximately two hours while the fire was being put out, Vernacchio was allowed back into his house. He said it smelled of smoke, but there was no damage. 

Sobolewski said he believes repairs on the houses will take months.

Vernacchio said that he was stunned by what he saw when he got out of his house.

“I was just in shock,” he said. “The flames were huge. So the first thing that came to my mind was to yell ‘fire’ and to get everyone out.” 

• Facebook Comments
• Site Comments

3 comments

Anonymous

Mon Mar 8 2010 00:48

Weren't you taught by your parents to refrain form being a gigantic, rude douce bag?

Anonymous

Tue Mar 2 2010 19:35

Isn't it taught in ENGL307 that you should probably mention, when there is a fire, if anyone was hurt within the first couple of lines?

Anonymous

Tue Mar 2 2010 15:45

Sucks for them. Glad no one was hurt.

Add comment


I am not posting spam. I understand posting spam or other comments that are unrelated to this article will cause my comment to be flagged for deletion and possibly cause my IP address to be permanently banned from this server.

Enter the characters in the image above:

log out