Spring Break
The Daily OrangeHouse destroyed by off-campus fire
Cigarette leads to $150,000 in damages
By Miyoko Ohtake
Posted: 6/14/07, 1:56 PM EST Section: News
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The fire started early Tuesday morning at 122-124 Redfield Place and was caused by a cigarette that was carelessly discarded onto the second-floor balcony couch, said Syracuse Fire Department Lt. Ken Heffernan.
The Onondaga County 9-1-1 Center was notified at 4:02 a.m. and 11 fire trucks arrived at the scene seven minutes later, Heffernan said. Witnesses estimated that it took firefighters 40 minutes to extinguish the fire.
Only one tenant was living in the three-unit house at the time of the fire, said Ben Tupper, landlord of the building. He arrived at the scene shortly after 4 a.m.
The tenant was a female student at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry. She was hosting a party that extended into early Tuesday morning, Tupper said. Only she and one other friend were at the house when the fire broke out and both were able to exit the house without injuries.
The tenant is staying with a friend in the area until she finds another apartment. The apartment units at 122-124 Redfield Place should be ready for tenants to move in by the spring 2008 semester, Tupper said.
"There's nothing salvageable," he said. "The house's second and third floors are totaled and will have to get stripped down and rebuilt."
Reports stated the fire caused $150,000 in damages.
The cracking and popping of the fire's flames early Tuesday morning awoke neighbor Dave Hammond, a recent Syracuse University College of Law graduate. Hammond lives at 111 Redfield Place.
"It sounded like fireworks," he said. "I thought, 'Who's doing fireworks at 4 o'clock in the morning?'"
When Hammond looked out his second-floor window, he saw the house completely engulfed in flames. "I felt the heat on my face from my room," he said.
Hammond said he didn't see any police cars or
fire trucks at the scene and decided to call 911.
"I was scared it was going to start jumping houses," he said. "I'm surprised it didn't."
Tupper sent an e-mail to all of his tenants later in the day alerting them of the fire and asking them to take precautions to avoid causing future accidental fires.
"If you invite enough people to your place, eventually someone will do something stupid that ends in tragedy," he wrote. "Keep an eye on your friends, and keep things in line when you party."
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