Thank God no one was living in the house, and was only being used for recruitment. Still though, it's a nice house, and I'd be taking it hard too if it was Delta Sig. Luckily, no one was hurt/injured.
To elaborate: AChiO and Sigma Kappa moved it's residents they're building. The houses are to be torn down for the SDSU Campus Redevelopment Project
http://www.thedailyaztec.com/media/p...y-990455.shtml
FIRE IGNITES INSIDE SORORITY
About 50 women were evacuated from the house and no one was injured in the blaze that shook up the last night of Rush
By Sam Hodgson, City Editor
Published: Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Fire crews blocked Montezuma Road in front of the house as they contained the blaze.
Flames ripped through a bedroom on the second floor of the Alpha Chi Omega sorority house at about 6 p.m. yesterday, as smoke billowed out above Montezuma Road.
By the time fire crews arrived on the scene, the women, who had been taking part in their final night of fall Rush, had been evacuated from the house, and flames were spreading onto the roof, Battalion Chief of the San Diego Fire Department, Tom Clark, said.
When SDFD Engine 10 arrived, they were able to contain the one-alarm fire from extending to the rest of the building, he said.
Based on the number of females outside the house in black, formal attire, Clark said that approximately 30 to 50 women were inside when the blaze broke out. All of them got out of the house safely, he said.
The fire crews were most likely dispatched by a driver who called 911, he said. Multiple students at the scene took credit for being among the first to respond.
Business senior Bobby Israel said he was driving past the sorority house when he saw flames. Israel, an emergency medical technician, said he parked in the church lot across the street and checked to make sure no one was inside the house.
By the time he had checked, he said fire crews had arrived.
The whole president's bedroom was on fire and flames were shooting out the top of the house, he said.
At that point, firefighters assembled their equipment, went up the tower and put out the fire, he said.
Finance senior Paul McManus was also near the scene when the fire broke out.
"I saw all the girls on the corner and all the smoke coming out the top from the fire," Mcmanus said. "I called the San Diego State police and said 'I'm sure you guys already know about the fire,' and they were like, 'what fire?'"
Mcmanus said police were the first to respond to the blaze and the fire department arrived at the scene about 10 minutes after he made the call. He said once crews were there, they took care of the fire within about five minutes.
"(Firefighters) cut a hole in the ceiling of the house and then took care of the rest," he said. "All the girls came out crying so it was pretty sad - it was pretty emotional for them."
Communication sophomore Lauren Laddusaw said because the girls' house was getting torn down this year to make way for the Paseo project, all of their possessions had already been moved out of the house in preparation for the move to the new sorority row.
She said the girls were using the house last night for a fall "pref" ceremony.
All other sororities cancelled their pref events for the remainder of the evening.
After discussing the cause of the blaze with multiple witnesses, and a Metro Arson Strike Team investigator, University Police Lieutenant Robert McManus said that they suspect the blaze was started by drapery that was hung too close to a candle.
Members of Alpha Chi Omega were not able to comment until they had notified their national chapter.
At the time of print, MAST was investigating the cause of the fire. In a written statement provided by SDSU Director of Media Relations Jason Foster, he said University Police and the San Diego Fire Department are describing the fire as "accidental."
No damage estimate was available at the time of print.
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