Fire guts students' house

No one was hurt in the fire on 41st Street. The blaze has been ruled an accident. Smashed windows, melted electronic equipment and a few charred couches littered the bottom floor of an off-campus student residence after a fire gutted the insides last night. Philadelphia Fire Department officials said the blaze on the 400 block of South 41st Street was caused by cooking equipment in the kitchen at around 8:47 p.m., and was extinguished 10 minutes later. The three Penn students who live in the residence were not home at the time and nobody was injured in the fire. The blaze primarily struck the first-floor living room and kitchen area, though sections of the upstairs levels sustained heavy heat and smoke damage. Dark soot covered the walls and ceiling and rubble covered the floor. In the hours following the fire, the apartment's occupants and their friends carried out a few charred items that managed to survive the fire. "Everything in the house is ruined," said College senior Nick Tripician, who lives in the apartment. "Nothing is salvageable. The common room is done, completely melted." Engineering senior Lewis Goettner, who also lives at the Campus Apartments-owned residence, said he received a phone call from a friend alerting him to the situation. "We ran over here and the firemen were smashing out all the windows," Goettner said last night. "The fire was out when we got here." Goettner explained that along with losing furniture, an entertainment center and other personal items in the fire, his cat is missing from the residence. Firemen at the scene told him the brown, tiger-striped cat leaped out of the apartment but could not be found last night. "I don't think it has really set in yet," Goettner said. "I'll probably be fine until tomorrow." The apartment's residents said they were offered assistance from the American Red Cross but have chosen to stay with friends in the interim. David Adelman, president of Campus Apartments, said he was told by fire fighters at the scene that the cause of the blaze was a stove left running. Although he said he's happy a tragedy was averted, Adelman said he wishes his residents would be more careful. "I'm glad no one got hurt," Adelman said. "But people have to be a little more aware of what they're doing. Carelessness is the biggest cause of these fires in my buildings." Adelman estimated that it would cost $50,000 to repair the apartment, which is one of about 130 in the Campus Apartments stock. He said renovations will start as soon as possible. "I'll take money out of my pocket and redo it," Adelman said. "It will be a completely new place."

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