P*o*o by
Firefighters work to extinguish the last flames from a Monday biate Fourteen firefight
ers and five pieces of tire department equipment were dispatched to the scene.
FIRE
Continued from Page 1
men! equipment anil firefighters pulling
out the Iasi of the blaze shortly *»fter 11
pm
No one was in|ured in the fire, us all
three roommates had listen at Taylor's
since between ‘1 and '1 to p m . act ordtng
to police reports
C’apt Titn Birr, spokesman for the
Kugene fire department, said the fire
liegan near the dining room/kiti hen ante
in the back of the home
Birr said friends entered the empty
house 30-45 minutes before the start of
the fire because a stereo that had been
turned on led them to believe that the
three roommates were at home Ashes
from the cigarette of one of the friends,
some of whom isere smoking during their
brief visit, may have been deposited in a
box of newspapers and started the fire.
Birr said
Tuesday afternoon. Hansen, pointing at
the urea where the fire was believed to
have started, said it would have been
impossible for the fire to have ln>en elm
I r tea I in origin because no outlet was
nearby, only the l«>\ of newspapers and a
mountain bike
All indii utions point to smokers' care
lessness." Birr said
The house, a one story frame located at
E 17th Ave , suffered about 530,000
in strut tural damage and the house's t on
tents suffered about $15,000 in damage
from extensive heat and smoke lit the
house The three roommates rented the
home from a Kugene landlord
Among the items destroyed by tint lire
were stereos, compact ilist s. mountain
bikes and sporting equipment Hie in t u
pants and some of their friends sorted
through the fire's mess Tuesday, looking
for anything salvageable They found lit
tle
Kugene firefighters were dispatched to
the scene at 10 5H pm. Monday after
ret oiving a 011 call
University sophomore Mark Hut.king,
who lives next door to the gutted home,
was preparing to go to sleep Monday
night when he heard glass crai king anti
breaking outside
"I was laying in bod. and I heard glass
coining out of the window." Mai king
said "ll sounded like people were
smashing Iwittles outside ."
After looking outside of his bedroom
window and seeing black smoke billow
mg from the house. Hacking alerted a
roommate of his. who was also preparing
to go to sleep
josh Herg, a University freshman and
Hai king's roommate, and Hat king ran
outside to the neighboring house After
both pounded on the windows and walls
to alert anyone who might Ihi home. Herg
turned his home s garden huso on flames
emanating from a window in the burning
home's dining room area.
berg said he believes he was able to put
out some flames before firefighters
arrived birr said there was "no question"
berg helped
|osh grabbed the garden hose and
knew ked dow n a lot of fire.' birr said
The two roommates ulso signaled a
third person. Adam Nitkowski to i all
ll11. according to police reports Nitkows
ki had been at a friend s house ui ross the
street from the burning borne
I saw it out of the i orner of mv eve
and told on friend to i all 91 l.” Nitkows
ki said
f irefighters arrived at 11:02 p in and
had the flames under control lit 11.14
p in
A number of curious witnesses and
friends of the three roommates stood
around on bast 17th Avenue for more
than an hour while officials cordoned off
the home s vard area five piei es of fire
department equipment were dispatched
to the scene, along with I -f firefighters
With the home boarded up. a smell ol
burnt rubber or plastic lingered in the air
Mondav night and was still heavily
apparent Tuesday afternoon
While standing among a pile n! melted
(.1) covers piled on Ins pore 11. Hansen
seemed upbeat, looking ahead to an
immediate future lie didn't know was
there just the day Indore He said Mine has
moved into the Sigma Alpha fpsilon
house, cd which he is a member, and that
Hansen and Hoopaugh hoped to move
into an apartment together.
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