BLOOMINGTON - A fire early Sunday morning at Illinois Wesleyan University's Phi Mu Alpha Fraternity heavily damaged the rear section of the three-story building, but all 15 residents escaped unharmed.

The university has been able to find alternative housing for all the students, said Darcy Greder, assistant dean of student affairs, who met with the students.

"I started the meeting by saying 'I have some good news and some bad news. The bad news is the fire, but the good news is we're all here to talk about it," Greder said.

The students awoke to the sound of smoke alarms about 2:30 a.m. Sunday and were able to evacuate the building at 303 E. Chestnut St.

Capt. Gary Shuska of the Bloomington Fire Department said firefighters arriving on the scene went through all three floors to make sure all the students had escaped.

"The fire apparently started somewhere in the rear basement, but it spread through the walls into the third floor," Shushka said, "Smoke got up into the third, but the fire was mostly contained to the basement and first floor," he said.

Sorority offers help

Greder said the fraternity members went to the Sigma Alpha Iota sorority, a sister organization to Phi Mu Alpha two doors away to stay during the fire.

Greder met with the students and some of their parents to help assess any of their immediate needs and to arrange for temporary housing .

"We were able to place 11 of the students in some space we had in university housing so they could be together, while damages to the building are assessed and repairs made.

"We also found space for the remaining four students, Greder said. "Each will have his own personal room and bed to sleep in tonight."

Students were given a meal and necessities, such as bedding, clothing and other items.

"We contacted all of their professors, their employers and places where they interned to advise them of the situation," she said.

"We told the students to contact us if they found that they needed anything at all, and that we would be there to assist them," she said.

The cause of the fire has not been determined, Shushka said, but it seemed clear that it originated somewhere in the basement.

The Phi Mu Alpha house is a three-story red brick located on the south side of Franklin Square near Prairie Street.