Tragedy struck Bloomsburg University in Bloomsburg, Penn. early Sunday morning when the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity house caught fire, killing three Bloomsburg students in the blaze. Two students and an alumnus escaped the fire.
Junior Marcus LaBuda of Hazleton, Penn., who was the chapter president and an environmental planning major, and junior Cliff Vail of Dunellen, N.J., a Business Finance major, were identified yesterday as two of the three victims. The third victim has not been identified. A dog also perished in the fire.
"This is a tragic, tragic accident. The range of emotions everyone here is dealing with is enormous," Bloomsburg spokesperson James Hollister said.
After the end of a party the fraternity held Saturday night, six males slept at the house. At 6:05 a.m., the fire department received notice of a fire at the house.
Three of the six occupants escaped the house and reported being awakened by heavy smoke and fire alarms.
The fire department has yet to determine the cause of the fire, Hollister said, and the case still is under investigation.
The fire is the second fire at Bloomsburg in recent memory. In October 1994, a fire killed five students at a fraternity house, he said.
"I never would have imagined that this university would have to deal with such tragedy at all and yet this is the second time it has happened now," he added.
The fraternity house had been in violation of 12 safety standard codes during an October inspection by the town code inspector, but all infractions had been corrected by January, Hollister said.
Classes were canceled yesterday at the university to help students cope with the tragedy and deaths of their classmates.
"This is an unthinkable tragedy; a horrific accident. It will be difficult to deal with, especially for young undergraduate students," said Timothy Murphy, executive vice president & CEO of Tau Kappa Epsilon International Fraternity.
At the University of Virginia, fire safety is treated as an important issue and fraternities are given specific instructions on fire safety, Inter-Fraternity Council President Justin Saunders said.
"We educate all fraternity leaders on precautionary measures every year in conjunction with the fire department," Saunders said.
Bloomsburg is a university of approximately 7,500 students located in central Pennsylvania.
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