NEWS
Campus-area blaze leaves 1 dead, 3 injured
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by Pedro Oliveira Jr.
Monday, November 19, 2007
An early Sunday morning
blaze destroyed a house near the University of Wisconsin campus, leaving a
UW-La Crosse student dead and three UW-Madison students with burn injuries. The
Madison Fire Department has estimated the fire damages to be more than
$100,000.
A passer-by called 911
around 5:35 a.m., reporting flames on the porch of 123 N. Bedford St.,
according to the fire department. Lori Wirth, spokesperson for MFD, said
Madison firefighters arrived at the scene by 5:39 a.m. and took nearly 20
minutes to "really put the flames down."
"We were in our house in
bed, and we heard some yelling and the dog started barking," said UW senior
Erin Schultz, who lives in the house next to 123 N. Bedford St. "I looked out
the window and saw really intense flames and wasn't sure if it was coming from
our house or the house next door."
Wirth said MFD is still
investigating the cause of the fire. The most damaged part of the house was the
front porch, she said, and the three residents left the building through a
window near the rear.
"The heat of the fire was
enough that it melted some of the side of the house next door," Wirth said.
The Dane County Coroner's
office has identified Peter J. Talen, 23, of Plymouth, Wis., as the man whose
body was found near the front window of the house near the porch, where MFD
currently believes the fire originated. He was declared dead at the scene.
City Council President Mike
Verveer said Talen was a UW-La Crosse student who had taken the semester off
and was visiting his brother, UW senior Andy Talen, who will be in UW Hospital
until Monday.
"It's
an unspeakable tragedy," Verveer said. "The lost of a life is an absolute
tragedy — incomparable."
The
exact cause of Talen's death is still uncertain and will only be released after
the coroner's office conducts the appropriate autopsy procedures Monday.
Dean of Students Lori
Berquam said the three injured students — two male residents and a female
friend — are currently at UW Hospital with their families and will be offered
crisis loans and provisional housing from the Red Cross and UW Housing.
"Our students are going to
be OK, but it's very tragic," Berquam said.
However, Schultz said when
the three UW students left the house "it looked like their hands were pretty
badly burned."
The other three residents of
123 N. Bedford St. went to Minnesota for the Badger football game against the
University of Minnesota Gophers, Verveer said.
This is the second time this
month that UW students have been affected by fire — a Nov. 10 incident on 505
N. Carroll St. destroyed the sixth floor of the seven-story building, leaving
30 student residents without housing.
Verveer
said Madison and UW should consider dealing with fire safety issues and hopes
this tragedy will serve as a wake-up call for students to take fire safety
seriously. He said when touring 123 N. Bedford St. with the investigators early
Sunday morning, he noticed no working smoke detectors in the house.
"I
just hope that people think twice about their own personal fire safety,
including such a minimal thing as having a smoke detector with a working
battery in it," Verveer said. "It's really an important thing, and perhaps
there wouldn't be a deceased person and three injured in the UW hospital."
Anonymous (November 19, 2007 @ 7:58am):
My heart goes out to the Talen family. Our thoughts & prayers are with you.
Anonymous (November 19, 2007 @ 9:24am):
RIP Peter, we will all miss you
Anonymous (November 19, 2007 @ 11:49am):
I live in the area of carrol street. It is really scary that I have been waken up by fire alarm in my apartment building twice since November (22 Langdon Str.).
Well, it turned out there was no fire of the apartment building. But I think apartment managers also have responsiblilty to check if fire alarms work and keep telling the residents what we should do in order to keep safe. I do not know how much attention the undergraduate students pay to fire issue, as a graduate student I think sometimes they are too careless.
Anonymous (November 19, 2007 @ 1:17pm):
A couple years ago, I lived in the house that burned down, when we signed the inspection sheet, we wrote that the smoke detectors were not working properly, which, i believe, is the responsibility of the management company at the beginning of each lease. I have no idea whether they worked this time or not, and I am also not blaming the management company, but I do know that 123 N. Bedford was an accident waiting to happen as are many of the other old houses on the UW campus. I hope to see some action taken by property managers so that we students can live in SAFE and affordable housing.
Anonymous (November 19, 2007 @ 1:18pm):
Are we allowing our children to live in substandard housing? Is it not a law to keep smoke detectors working,and that would be the landlords responsibility. How dare they put our children at risk! And in this case resulting in a death of a young accomplished person! Shame on the "slumlords"!
Anonymous (November 19, 2007 @ 2:42pm):
This is such a sad story. I wonder if our Dane County Sup. Ashok Kumar should have voted against that fire prevention bill...
Zach Heise (November 19, 2007 @ 5:15pm):
Oh my god - I've known the Talen family for years, especially their father and other two sons. My prayers are with them.
Denise Weidner (November 19, 2007 @ 6:32pm):
We have known Andy Talen and his family for about 16 years. This is a tremendous family in the Sheboygan County area. The Talens have given thousands of hours of their time in the Sheboygan Youth Theater company and this horrible tragedy could not have touched a more giving family. For us, Peter has a face and a memory in our area. My family has known Andy since he and my son were in Kindergarten. My son and Andy are currently in theater classes at the UW. Our hearts grieve for this generous family.
Anonymous (November 19, 2007 @ 7:50pm):
You will be in my thoughts...I am so sorry that this happened.
Anonymous (November 19, 2007 @ 8:50pm):
Regardless of the landlords or the smoke detectors, someone died in this tragedy. Peter was an amazing person and so is the Talen family. He will be truly missed. I wish nothing but the best for that family and hope Andy recovers fully because they were born to entertain and make people smile. That tradition will always continue and Peter will live on through those that loved him.
Anonymous (November 19, 2007 @ 9:48pm):
The Talen family is one of the most amazing families I've ever met. My heart goes out to them and I keep them in my prayers. Peter had so much talent-he will be missed.
Anonymous (November 20, 2007 @ 3:49pm):
Like the individuals before me have said, Peter was an amazing guy and will be missed by all of UW-La Crosse and many others
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