Eight women living in a house near Ohio State’s campus are uninjured after a fire at about 2 a.m. Monday was caused by an “accidental cooking fire,” said Paul Ferguson, public information officer for Columbus Division of Fire.
The three-story house is located at 2205 Summit St. and because the smoke detectors went off, all eight were able to escape uninjured, Ferguson said.
Six of the eight are OSU students, said Julie King, a resident of the house and a third-year in human development and family sciences.
King also said that the residents aren’t sure how the fire started because all of them were asleep, but that at this point they “suspect something with the stove.”
She said that the kitchen is “all gone” and there is smoke damage to the entire house. Residents also lost two laptops that were in the kitchen and were “burnt pretty bad.”
It is estimated that the fire caused $15,000 to $20,000 worth of damage, Ferguson said.
Dave Isaacs, spokesman for Student Life, said that most of the women are from the Columbus area and will be staying with their families and friends until repairs have been completed. Their roommates who need a place to stay were invited to stay with the other women as well, he added.
Student Advocacy is working with the residents to communicate with professors about the situation, Isaacs said.
King said that Red Cross also came to the scene.
“They gave us all gift (cards), or like Visa MasterCards, gave some of the girls who aren’t associated with OSU, they talked to them about how they (Red Cross) can help,” King said.
Mary Barnum, the owner of the property, said that the damages will take about three months to repair.
Representatives from the Columbus Division of Police were not immediately available for comment Monday.