Fire Kills 2 Frostburg (MD) State University Students

Deputy state fire marshals in Maryland are continuing to investigate the cause of a three-alarm fire that killed two Frostburg State University students. Evan Andrew Kullberg, 23, and Allysa Marie Salazar, 20, were not able to escape the fire. The other ten occupants of the building were able to make their way to safety.

The incident occurred at 82 East Main Street in Frostburg, Allegany County at 4:19 a.m. A team of fire investigators have determined that the fire originated inside a first floor common area to the rear of the building. The cause of the fire remains under investigation at this time. Deputy fire marshals were unable to locate the presence of a smoke alarm in the debris.

Approximately 70 firefighters from multiple Maryland counties and West Virginia controlled the fire in just over an hour. During the incident, a Frostburg police officer received smoke inhalation injuries, a Frostburg firefighter received a minor burn to his hand, and a Shaft firefighter received smoke inhalation injuries. All three were treated and released from Western Maryland Regional Medical Center.

The cause of death of the victims will be determined by the Office of the State Medical Examiner. Investigators from the Combined County Criminal Investigations Unit (C3I) are assisting with the investigation.

The building was a two-story, block and wood frame structure. The first floor front contained a pizza shop and and two apartments. There were three apartments on the second floor. The fire originated on the first floor, rear. The students who were killed were in a second floor apartment. The fire was detected by one of the occupants on the first floor who called 911. All of the occupants, except for the victims, were able to self-rescue from the building. The cause of the fire has not been determined at this time.

These are the first campus-related fire fatalities of the 2010-2011 academic year. According to information compiled by Campus Firewatch, there have been 142 campus-related fire fatalities across the nation since January 2000 with 85% of them occurring in off-campus occupancies. A map of these fires is available on Campus Firewatch along with a series of fatal fire compilations and an Information Sheet.

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