This week’s Out of the Attic item is a 1977 photo of a fire that gutted the Sigma Nu fraternity house on the University of Delaware campus.
The fire broke out in the Main Street building (built in 1906) at around 2:30 p.m. on Aug. 29, 1977. A construction crew working nearby noticed the flames, and one worker ran into the nearby Carpenter Sports Building to alert Bruce Troutman, a UD physical education teacher and deputy chief of Aetna Hose Hook and Ladder Co. Nearly 100 firefighters worked for three hours to bring the blaze under control.
UD classes had not yet begun, so students were not living in the fraternity house when it burned down. The only person inside, according to a Newark Post article at the time, was a 19-year-old Newport woman who was staying there without the fraternity’s permission. A firefighter found her asleep on a couch and carried her to safety.
Two firefighters suffered minor burns.
Out of the Attic is produced in partnership with the Newark Historical Society. The Newark History Museum, located in the old train station under the South College Avenue bridge is open by appointment December through March. Admission is free. For more info, call 302-234-4145 or visitwww.newarkdehistoricalsociety.org.
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. No links. Comments containing links to outside
websites will be deleted. Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism
that is degrading to another person. Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness
accounts, the history behind an article.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
No links. Comments containing links to outside websites will be deleted.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.