Fire guts house on 39th and Baltimore

An early morning fire severely damaged an off-campus house yesterday on the 3900 block of Baltimore Avenue. Witnesses said the fire quickly tore through the three-story, brick rowhouse. Although the Philadelphia Fire Department declared the fire under control within 15 minutes of arriving at the scene at 4:20 a.m., it destroyed the entire inside of the house. No students lived in the house, which was occupied by permanent city residents, but students lived in houses on either side of the blaze. None of the residents or firefighters were injured. A Fire Department spokesman said the blaze is still under investigation by the city fire marshall. He said a cause will likely be determined within a few days. College junior Jeff Grayson, who lives a few houses away from the fire, said he heard sirens and did not think much of them until he heard them stop on his block. "I looked out my window and I was able to see flames coming out of the building," he said. "The whole inside looks like it's gutted." Grayson said the Fire Department seemed to control the blaze very quickly and kept damage to surrounding houses to just smoke damage.

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