Students affected by fire at Creps Publishing

An Indiana University of Pennsylvania student woke up to something other than her alarm Tuesday morning:  explosions, flames and plumes of black smoke.

“I looked out my window,” Aubree Frye (sophomore, nursing) said, “and saw a giant ball of smoke. The fire trucks were already showing up by then.”

Multiple fire units from Indiana as well as neighboring counties responded to the fire at Creps United Publications at 40 Christy Park Drive, according to the Indiana Fire Association rescue captain Ron Moreau.

The fire, which was reported at 8:37 a.m., spread quickly and caused several explosions, according to Moreau. An employee initially attempted to extinguish the fire, but by then, Moreau said, it was “too far along” and attempts were abandoned for evacuation.

“It’s a steel building with a steel roof and steel walls,” Moreau said. “It got pretty hot pretty quickly, and the fire spread across the ceiling.”

The explosions, according to Moreau, due to the printing solvents, oils and inks, could be heard from IUP’s campus. 

The black smoke could also be seen from campus.

“I live on 13th Street,” Cassidy Delisle (senior, communications media) said, “so when I went outside there was someone directing traffic on Philadelphia Street, and I could see the fire and the smoke.”

The fire was internal, and no residents or Creps employees were harmed. 

Four firefighters were taken into medical care for evaluation. 

The Red Cross also was on site with food and drinks for firefighters.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.