BELLEFONTE, Pa. (AP) -- Fire destroyed the former Bellefonte Academy building, now a 33-unit apartment, leaving about 40 people homeless, officials said.
Firefighters were called about 11 a.m. Wednesday and arrived to find the three-story Academy Apartments ablaze, Bellefonte firefighter Phil Lucas said.
Twenty fire companies battled the flames. The building, built before fire codes were in place, didn't have sprinklers and was atop a steep hill that limited the ways firefighters could approach it, Bellefonte Fire Chief Tim Knisely said.
Fire officials said the cause hadn't been determined. About 20 families went to a temporary shelter set up at Bellefonte Elementary School, where the Red Cross was working to find temporary housing for them.
