Mike King didn't even have time to grab shoes as he ran from his burning fraternity house early Saturday morning.

"I was running through glass in bare feet," said King, a Pi Lambda Phi fraternity member and Undergraduate Student Government Senate president. "Some of the brothers had nothing but shorts and T-shirts on."

Some members returned to the charred house this weekend to get their clothes, only to discover they were ruined. Those who were fortunate enough to find belongings salvageable had to duck under police tape circling the house to recover them.

Soot-covered members carried blackened belongings to their cars and took them to their temporary residences, which do not have holes burned through the roof and walls blackened by smoke.

The fire at Pi Lambda Phi fraternity, 321 Fraternity Row, began at about 3:20 a.m. Saturday, when a second-floor resident fell asleep and left a candle burning that ignited a desk and a wall, said Chief Steven Triebold of the Alpha Fire Company. It destroyed the room and the two rooms above, and the rest of the house suffered smoke and water damage. About 60 people escaped unharmed.

Pi Lambda Phi chapter adviser Edward Isaacson said one contractor has estimated that it will take about two months to repair the structure, maybe more depending on how and when the insurance company settles the case.

Until then, Pi Lambda Phi acting President Brian Czarny said most of the members are staying at Gateway Center Apartments, 646 E. College Ave.

Sharon Zeits, property manager for Gateway, said 35 Pi Lambda Phi members have leased eight apartments, which are usually rented for weekends, until May 31.

Isaacson said the insurance company will probably cover the rental costs, but the exact details have not been worked out.

A representative from the national chapter of Pi Lambda Phi will come from Florida to help finalize the details of the insurance.

Czarny said members will meet daily, partly because they aren't in their house and need to keep in touch with how everyone is doing.

"It's just not the same. I think everyone pretty much misses the house and the environment," he said.

King said he and two other members attempted to extinguish the flames before firefighters arrived, but were unsuccessful.

"The fire spread up through the rafters," King said, pointing at a hole in the roof. "Now you can see we have a nice sunroof."

Centre County Code Enforcement Officer Jon Weir said members attempted to use fire extinguishers that apparently did not work.

"They should have worked," Weir said, adding that they had been serviced in August and weren't due for inspection until next August. "I will be pursuing this."

Isaacson said he credits the lack of injury to a new fire alarm system which was recently installed to comply with fire codes. He said the system was installed during winter break and helped alert everyone in time to escape.

The last step in the new system's installation linked the alarm directly to the police and was just finished Thursday, Czarny said.

But the system did not wake fraternity member Craig Pfister, who was asleep when Lt. Clifford Lutz of University Police Services found and woke him, Triebold said.

"I slept right through it, they actually had to shake me," Pfister said. "I didn't know what was going on, I just ran from the house."

Wier said the house was not equipped with a sprinkler system but did not have to be because it was built before new codes requiring sprinklers went into effect.

Isaacson said Pi Lambda Phi will appear in court Thursday to settle fines for past fire code violations that have since been rectified.

In addition to 52 members of Alpha, Boalsburg and Undine fire companies were on the scene Saturday. Pleasant Gap fire company was on standby and worked for more than an hour to contain the fire.

Across the street at Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity, 322 Fraternity Row, dazed Pi Lambda Phi members and friends hugged and consoled each other in the living room as members of other fraternities brought blankets and cushions. Many of the Pi Lambda Phi brothers accepted Alpha Gamma Rho's invitation to stay the night.

"Between these guys and the guys at Sigma Pi and (Alpha Kappa Lambda), they've all been pretty supportive," said Frank Coyne, a member of Pi Lambda Phi.