A Monday night fire damaged a Mississippi State University owned house and left one professor homeless. On Monday night around 10:30 p.m., MSU police received a phone call stating that there was a house fire at 9 Morgan Ave., which is located behind Rice Hall on the MSU campus.
The house, rented to Dr. Mark Fishbein, assistant professor of biological sciences, was covered in smoke when the Starkville Fire Department arrived on the scene. According to reports, the fire was contained in about 10-15 minutes.
Roger Mann, fire marshall for the Starkville Fire Department, said that the cause of the fire was a maintenance issue.
“The house was old, therefore it had some maintenance problems,” Mann said. “The floor furnace also showed some indications that it could have started the fire as well.”
“The house was built with a tongue and grove layout,” Chief Grantham, Starkville Fire Department, said. “The house was made out of old pine which made the fire very hot. The temperature of the fire made it difficult to fight, however, our guys went in and made a good interior attack.”
The house was built, according to MSU physical plant records, in 1929.
Most of the house sustained heat and water damage according to Mann.
“The house sustained major heat damage and had damage near and around the floor furnace,” Mann said. “It is not a total loss.”
“The structure of the house is still good,” Peter Rook, assistant director of physical plant, said. “The studs and foundation are all still in good condition.”
Mann said that this fire was very unique in nature due to the owner.
“The owner had what is called renter’s insurance,” Mann said. “Renter’s insurance covers what is inside the house rather than the house itself. We (the fire department) only get around one or two calls like this a year.”
Although the fire was not a total loss to the university, the only loss was Fishbein’s cat. Fishbein stated at the scene that he did think his cat made it out of the house; however, it was determined later that cat perished in the fire. Fishbein also lost most of his personal belongings according to some faculty members.
“It has not been determined what will be done with the house in the future,” Rook said. “It is also unclear when repairs will begin on the house.”
“The MSU Police Department did an excellent job at keeping the traffic under control and monitoring the house overnight,” Grantham said.