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Credit: Courtesy of Luke Poethig

Last week’s fire at Hamilton Court will not be disruptive to students moving in this week, according to University City Housing.

Roofing material on the top floor of building C of the 39th and Chestnut streets apartment complex caught fire early morning on Aug. 21. According to Philadelphia Fire Department Executive Chief Richard Davison, the cause of the fire is still under investigation.

University City Housing Property Manager Emily Brown said UCH is following the proper procedures to move tenants back in as soon as possible.

“The cleaning and restoration crew is working on repairs,” Brown said. “We are doing our best to work around them.”

College senior Joe-Ann Moser, who was in the building when the fire began, described the ceiling above the fourth floor stairwell as “completely destroyed.”

UCH did not comment on the extent of the damage or the potential cost for repairs.

Repairs began the day of the fire and remain underway. They are expected to be complete by the end of this week, according to Brown.

Until all repairs are complete and inspected by city officials, tenants on the top two floors will not be permitted to move back into the apartments.

Moser commented on the benefits of the hasty response of the Philadelphia Fire Department.

“Hopefully, the fire won’t have too big of an impact on move-in this week,” she said. “It was pretty quickly contained and thankfully it was during that time of summer when not a lot of people were around.”

According to Brown, vacant rooms in other Hamilton Court buildings have been made available for the affected tenants.

However, Moser said staying in other vacant rooms seemed too much of a hassle.

“I’m not sure where other people in the building are staying in the meantime, but I’ve just been sleeping on friends’ couches,” she added.

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