Alpha Fire Co. responded to a fire at about 2:45 a.m. Thursday at the former Phi Delta Theta fraternity house, 240 N. Burrowes Road.
No one was injured, but damage from the fire could displace residents for several weeks, said Steve Bair, fire director for the Centre Region Council of Governments.
The fire, ruled accidental, was caused by a lighting fixture connected by a series of electrical cords in the house's top-floor penthouse, Bair said.
Sprinkler systems confined the fire to the penthouse, but firefighters were needed to extinguish it, Bair said.
A Penn State Police officer noticed smoke coming from the building early Thursday morning and a resident came out of the house to confirm there was a fire, Bair said.
The fire was under control at about 3:18 a.m.
For more on this story, check tomorrow's Daily Collegian.
