On Dec. 1 at approximately 4 p.m. the roof of an apartment building located at 50 Franklin St., which stands next to Lafayette Residence Hall, went up in flames. The fire was extinguished in approximately 45 minutes by 20 firefighters and three fire engines. There were no ambulances present and no one was hurt, according to witness and LS sophomore Gemma Petrini.

Petrini, a Lafayette resident, said that after she noticed smoke pouring in through her 16th floor window, she decided to call 911.

“I called 911, and the firefighters were there within three minutes,” Petrini said.  “We actually watched the fire from my window, and it took the firefighters like 40 minutes to put the whole thing out.”

After Petrini called 911, she looked around for a Resident Assistant with her suitemate.

“Me and my suitemate split up after I called 911 and tried to knock on the doors of the RAs above and below us, but no one was home, so we rushed down to the Resource Center,” Petrini said. “By the time we got down there, the firefighters were already outside, so we brought the RA from the Resource Center outside with us to talk to them so we could all figure out what building it was.”

Petrini’s friend, Tisch sophomore Fabiana Chotocruz, said that she found out about the fire from Petrini — not Lafayette Hall.

“We got no announcement from Lafayette, and I’m pretty sure because I check my email,” Chotocruz said. “The fire took place during such a small window of time, though. It was a Friday during the day and so most people were not in the dorms in the first place.”

A version of this article appeared in the Monday, Dec. 4 print edition. Email Miranda Levingston at [email protected].