A third-floor apartment caught fire at 3420 Louisa St. It was this fire that took the life… A third-floor apartment caught fire at 3420 Louisa St. It was this fire that took the life of Pitt student Rich Noble one week later because of complications from smoke inhalation.

During initial speculation, it was thought that the fire was started by a cigarette left burning by a Pitt student who had fallen asleep on the couch.

Now, more than a month later, the cause of the fire, according to Pittsburgh Assistant Fire Chief Francis Deleonibus, has been deemed accidental, meaning Fire Arson Investigation for the City of Pittsburgh has not been able to pinpoint the exact cause, but is able to rule out both natural causes and deliberate causes.

The firemen who responded to the fire had seen the smoke rising from the apartment building from the fire station in South Oakland. Even with a quick response time, initial crews were met with a lot of heat, and according to Deleonibus, the entire front room of the third-floor apartment was completely on fire.

Immediately following the fire, Fire Arson Investigation for the City of Pittsburgh began its investigation, also seeking the assistance of the Allegheny County Fire Marshall’s Office. Along with the Fire Marshall’s Office came a dog from the K9 unit, Cole, trained to be alert to combustible liquids. Cole did not find anything, bringing the office closer to eliminating a deliberate cause.

“It is very difficult to say,” Deleonibus said. “The investigators told me there were a lot of electrical components such as a computer, TV, DVD player, etc. It could have been careless cigarette smoking to anything. We know the fire began in one certain area of the room in the third floor apartment, but everything was consumed so much that there is not much solid evidence. Therefore, we cannot eliminate all types of accidental cause.”

Fire Arson Investigators for the City of Pittsburgh kept custody of the building and continued to go back on subsequent investigations, including assisting private investigators hired by property owners. After approximately two weeks of heavy investigation, the case is now done, but not closed.

“It is not as easy as open and shut. Someone may come forward with information that could help, in which case investigation would start up again. We absolutely cannot make assumptions. If we have to make assumptions, we have to keep it open,” Deleonibus said.