When smoke alarms began wailing at 4:30 a.m. in the six-story Boland Hall, many students did not take the warning seriously because of a recent series of false alarms, students said.
Once aware of the danger, some cowered in closets and some jumped out windows - one student broke an ankle and a leg - while others staggered down smoky hallways, covering their faces with their hands or towels. Outside, stunned students ran from acquaintance to acquaintance, frantically trying to determine who was safe.
Among those looking was Giunta's older brother, Peter, a Seton Hall senior who lives elsewhere at the school. Unable to find his brother, he called their mother, Debbie Gaudy, fearing the worst, according to a family friend.
State police then took Gaudy from Vineland to the campus to identify her son's body, according to Thomas P. McCann, principal of Landis Intermediate School, where Gaudy is a cafeteria worker.
The cause of the fire was not apparent, but officials said it originated in two couches in a third-floor lounge. Two of the victims were found in the lounge. The other, found in a room nearby, was removed from the dorm after rescuers were unable to resuscitate him.
Fire officials did not say how long the fire burned, but said firefighters had arrived within minutes. The fire was out 10 minutes after the first crew arrived, they said. They also said the fire was intense but confined to a small area around the lounge.
Vincent Scerbo, 19, said he and his roommate had ignored the alarm until smoke seeped into their first-floor room.
"This kid ran down from the third floor, and his clothes were on fire," Scerbo said. "They sprayed him with an extinguisher. He had blood on his face and was sitting in the lounge, like in shock. When we saw him, we said, 'This is for real.'"
During false alarms, Scerbo said, many students hid from resident advisers so they would not be forced to go outside.
