Fire destroys uniforms at Franklin Fld.

Damages said to be 150K A fire in a football equipment room at Franklin Field yesterday morning caused more than $150,000 in damage, according to University Director of Fire and Occupational Safety James Miller. Miller speculated that foam pads -- which had just been removed from the dryer -- smoldered in a canvas bin and later erupted after equipment personnel left the building at about 11 p.m. The pads, he added, should have been removed from uniforms before the pants were placed in the dryer. Miller believes when oxygen in the bin ran out, fire flashed throughout the 20 by 20 foot room. The Philadelphia Fire Department responded to an alarm in the George Munger Athletic Complex, located in the east end of Franklin Field, at 2:16 a.m. They had the blaze under control by 2:55 a.m., according to Captain Henry Dolberry, a spokesperson for the department. Fire Department inspectors are expected to issue their preliminary report today. South and 33rd streets were closed for most of the early morning hours yesterday as police and fire trucks converged on the scene. There was no damage to Franklin Field's structure. But the equipment room, which is connected to the football locker room, will require a new ceiling and electrical wiring. Equipment managers spent yesterday afternoon examining the damage, which included melted and twisted helmets and charred cleats. A heavy smoke odor persisted. "There's an awful lot of lost equipment," Miller said. "It all sort of exploded." The Quakers' white uniforms, which were being stored in the room until they were to be put on the bus for tomorrow's game at Dartmouth University, have been taken to a professional cleaner to see if they can be salvaged. Some women's cross country equipment is also stored in the room. Officials could not say yesterday whether that equipment was damaged. The football team will wear blue home jerseys and blue pants, which were in sealed containers and unharmed, during tomorrow's game. The Quakers have enough helmets remaining in order to play. Equipment managers will have an inventory completed today or tomorrow, Athletic Communications Director Brad Hurlbut said. At the request of University Athletic Department officials, Dartmouth will wear white jerseys and pants, not their green home jerseys. Tomorrow is Homecoming at the Hanover, N.H., school. Last semester, Penn men's basketball home white uniforms turned pink in the wash, and new uniforms were purchased.