The Rocket

Issue date: 3/10/06 Section: News

Media Credit: Nate Daymut Although the outside remains mostly intact, the inside of the house that caught fire last Friday was ruined, forcing three SRU students and one alumnus to find temporary residency.

A fire destroyed a house at 133 W. Cooper St. in the early morning Feb. 3, leaving three students and one alumnus without a place to live in Slippery Rock.

Residents of the home include Slippery Rock University students Michael Warren, Bill Boyd, John Derek and non-student Patrick Kingsley.

Boyd said it had been a typical Thursday night watching basketball with friends, going to Ginger Hill and concluding the night with a game of cards.

"I woke up on instinct (around 7:30 a.m.)," Boyd said. "I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary."

Boyd lived in the half of the basement that was not underground.

After using the bathroom on the first floor, Boyd said he noticed smoke coming up through the floorboards in the living room.

He attempted to put the fire out with water, but it only got worse.

"Within seconds, everything was filled with smoke," Boyd said.

The smoke detectors and Boyd's screams woke his roommates and a friend who had stayed the night in the basement. Everyone attempted to put out the fire.

Boyd went downstairs to get the fire extinguisher, which proved useless in controlling the fire.

"We pretty much abandoned ship," he said.

They went over to a house on the corner of Elm and Cooper Street where an elderly couple, friends of the residents, live.

"At that time we weren't certain of whether or not (roommate) John Derek was in the house," Boyd said. "Luckily he spent the night at someone else's house."

Boyd said they didn't realize the extent of damage caused by the fire.

"The truth is I never imagined losing everything," he said. "It really makes you realize how much we do have."

State Police Fire Marshall Corporal Jeff Crede said the cause of the fire is yet to be determined.

"(The fire is) still under investigation at this point, but it appears to be an electrical malfunction," Crede said. "We're looking at the electrical wiring in the house to see what (may have) failed."

Crede said there were lots of stereos, an electric space heater and other electronics in the home that may have caused the electrical wiring to fail.

Crede said an electrical engineer will be brought in for further assessments.

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