The cause of an on-campus apartment fire that left 15 students displaced last month is still undetermined.

“The investigation? It’s finished. It’s pretty much done,” said Jerry Bulger, Physical Plant maintenance supervisor and Perry Township Volunteer Fire Department assistant chief.

Although the investigation is complete, the Physical Plant, which collected evidence from the scene of the fire, has yet to determine a cause.

Public Safety and the Physical Plant agree the fire originated in the bushes outside of the apartment building, however what caused the bushes to catch fire is still in question.

At the scene of the fire, a resident of the Boon apartment that was destroyed and a Public Safety officer both cited the air conditioning unit behind the bushes as the possible cause of the fire.

“I don’t know who the source was on that, or how credible it would be,” said Steve Bequette, Public Safety assistant director. “But for all practical purposes at this time, (that is) what was initially reported to me.”

Public Safety is still waiting to get some results from the insurance investigator, he said.

“Then the university will be meeting to see if we can determine if there is a different course of action in what needs to be done,” Bequette said. “In these types of situations you may never know what the – you may be able to determine what the cause and origin is, but you may not be able to determine why the cause happened, so maybe who was involved. We’re looking at it and still gathering information.”

Housing and Residence Life Director Laurie Berry said throughout her 20 years at USI, there have been fires before, but never an exterior fire like the one at Boon.

“It’s the first time we’ve had an outside fire like this – that starts outside and catches the inside attic on fire,” she said.

Bequette said it’s possible for a bush on fire outside to set the inside of a second floor attic on fire, but whether or not that is what happened is still uncertain.

“(If you) look at the eaves around there, they’re all vented. That heat can be sucked up in there,” he said. “That was what was initially reported to us, too. But if that’s the final (answer) yet, I don’t know.”

Berry said despite the “extensive interior damage,” the rehabilitation of the apartment is still on schedule, originally reported by Business Affairs to be completed in the spring.