Student jumps from window to safety, 2 others hurt in Robinson Township apartment building fire

ROBINSON TOWNSHIP, Pa. — A student jumped out of a window to safety, and two others were injured after flames broke out early Friday at a Robinson Township apartment building, according to fire officials.

Firefighters were called to the Westpointe Drive complex just before 6 a.m.

The apartment building houses 200 students who attend the Pittsburgh Technical College. People who live there told WPXI's Mike Holden they heard the fire alarms go off, then smelled and saw thick smoke on the second floor. They grabbed what they could and evacuated the building.

PHOTOS: Fire breaks out at Robinson Township apartment building

The flames were so intense that a man who lived in the apartment where the fire started jumped from a window to safety.  He was not hurt.

“I was trying to open up my window, and I jumped out the window 'cause there’s no way else to get out. So I almost couldn’t even open the window 'cause I was so nervous,” student Brendan Conklin said.

“My roommate woke up to the lights and the fire alarm, and we thought it wasn’t anything for like a minute, and then we woke up our roommates up and there was smoke everywhere and the fire alarm was going,” student Tamara Ellis said.

One unit was badly damaged by fire and another four units were damaged by smoke and water.

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The students who were displaced will be staying in supplemental housing in the same complex.  Other students should be able to return to their apartments in a few hours.

The injuries to the two other students are minor.

Classes will resume as normal, but students who are impacted by the fire will be excused.

Fire officials are still trying to determine what caused the fire.

Cox Media Group