Fire in campus dorm

By Lindsay Carroll / Assistant News Editor

published: Sat, 7 Nov, 2009

Update 7:55 p.m. -

Pitt spokesman John Fedele said 12 students will stay in alternative housing, the location of which Panther Central workers are currently trying to determine.

Fedele said he had not heard of any injuries. He said he did not know yet how large the fire was or how many rooms were affected.

Update: 7:44 p.m. -

Firefighters are letting some students enter the Centre Plaza Apartments to see if anything in their rooms is salvageable.

Students said they heard most of the damage was to the south side of the building.

Sophomores Natalee Harbuch and Erika Zimmerman, who live on the third floor of the building, said they did not hear an alarm when the fire began but instead saw water dripping through their ceiling. They guessed that there was about two inches of water on their floor by the time they left their room, which is on the south side of the building.

The two said they left the building by 6:30 p.m. and that fire trucks were there when they left the building.

Firefighters said the fire was already out by the time they made it into the building.

Correction: The official who said that alternative housing will be available for students was a member of the Pitt police department, not a firefighter.

Update: 7:18 p.m. -

Firefighters are still on scene at the Centre Plaza Apartments, where a fire began around 6:20 p.m., causing students to evacuate the building.

Some students living in the University dormitory, which holds 197 people, said a fire began on the sixth floor, setting off the fire alarm and sprinkler systems.

Students living on the third floor said water from the sprinkler system dripped through the ceilings down to their floor.

One firefighter said shortly after 7 p.m. that a University restoration crew was on its way to the building.

Alternative housing would be available for students who live in the dorm the firefighter said

6:50 p.m. - There are reports of a fire in the University's Centre Plaza Apartments, which hold 197 students.

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