Exactly three weeks after a fire consumed their home at 4042 Sansom Street, five students are relocating and regrouping.
Four of the five Penn students who were in the house when it burned have moved into a new apartment at 39th Street and Baltimore Avenue. One of their former housemates is still recovering at his home in Wallingford, Pa.
The March 3 fire broke out at about 3:35 a.m. and sent six Penn students and one Bryn Mawr College student to the hospital.
The Philadelphia Office of the Fire Marshal ruled the case as arson earlier this week.
College senior Joe Russo, the only student who has not returned to campus yet, expressed optimism about the future.
"I hope to be back soon," said Russo, who was rescued from the apartment's third-story window by firefighters. He is recuperating from burns to his arms.
"I feel incredibly lucky that he is alive," said Paula Winner, Russo's mother.
Winner helps Russo change his bandages twice a day.
"It's painful, but it's not excruciatingly painful," she said. "We sort of have to take it day by day and see how he feels."
Wharton senior Ricardo Franco, who escaped from the blaze by jumping out of a second-story window, said he is adjusting fairly well after the incident and is "getting back to normal."
Franco is one of the four students who relocated to the on-campus apartment. The students' realtor, Walter Wood Real Estate, helped them find the property.
None of the residents would comment on the arson ruling until investigators release more details.
The case is being handled by the Philadelphia Police Department's Southwest Detective Division, whose jurisdiction covers Penn's campus and the surrounding area. Detectives there said that an investigation is ongoing. No motives or suspects have been announced.
Nina Scott, a former fire official in Pasadena, Calif., said that while she wouldn't comment on this particular case, many arsons are retaliatory in nature.
"A fire is a way for someone to act out," said Scott, who spent seven years specializing in field investigations of fires.
She now owns NMS Investigations Inc., a Canyon Lake, Calif.-based company specializing in fire investigations.
Scott said investigators will often consult a fire site's burn patterns to help determine its cause.
When a flammable liquid is used to start a fire, burn patterns should be in an inverted V-shape due to the explosion, she said, adding that gasoline is commonly used by arsonists because it's easy to obtain and extremely flammable.
Scott added that while a fire may initially be classified as arson, investigators do make mistakes.
A survey released by the National Fire Prevention Association states that less than 2 percent of intentionally set fires lead to a conviction.
Fire aftermath
- Four of five house residents who were present at the time of the fire have moved into an apartment at 39th Street and Baltimore Avenue
- Officials believe fire was arson
- Investigators will look for burn patterns, possible methods for starting the fire
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