A Pennsylvania teenager died Friday in a fire that tore through a Brookline apartment building that housed several Boston University students.
NewsCenter 5's Jim Boyd reported that Derek Crowl, 19, of Elysburg, Pa., was visiting students at BU. The fire was the second fatal blaze to touch the school in the past couple of weeks.
Officials said that they believe the fire started at 49 St. Mary's St. on a third-floor porch area. Fire officials were called to the building at about 6 a.m.
"I looked out the back window and saw the porch and the building on fire. It was completely in flames," neighbor Bill Boykin-Morris said.
Brookline Fire Chief John Green said that the residents started a grill at about 1 a.m. The state fire marshal said that coals from the barbeque may have ignited furniture on the porch.
Green said that Crowl's body was found outside a closet door. Two firefighters were injured battling the blaze -- one fell through the floor and the other sustained back injuries. Green said neither of their injuries are life-threatening.
"He was unfamiliar with the building, unfamiliar with the room, we know that," Green said.
Green said that it is illegal to grill outdoors in Brookline if you do not live on the ground floor
Two BU students died in a Feb. 25 fire caused by a candle at 21 Aberdeen St., in Boston, while a third student suffered severe burns.
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