Would they have to split up? How were they going to recover from losing so many personal keepsakes and career memorabilia, clothes, furniture, and other possessions?

By Wednesday, at least one question had been answered. The group of seniors began moving into a new home that would accommodate all of them just a few blocks from where they lived before misfortune struck.

Nobody was home when the fire broke out, and the Quakers were told an electrical problem mostly likely caused it. An investigation continues.

"I got a phone call at about 1 a.m.," said defensive lineman Drew Goldsmith, who was in the neighborhood with his girlfriend. "They said 'Your house is burning down.' It was pouring rain. I stood out there and watched."

"Somebody called and said the house was burning, but I didn't believe him," said defensive back Chris Wynn, who was at home in Flemington, N.J. "I told him to send me a [cell-phone] picture, and he sent one of my room with flames shooting out of it."

The players' previous building was big enough for each to have his own apartment. Now, they are paired off in four apartments in a smaller building on South 47th Street with former player Tim Barnes joining them. They found the place through a listing offered by Campus Apartments.

The Quakers met with the landlord Monday and made a deal.

"Our biggest concern was whether we would be able to live together," Quakers defensive lineman Joe Goniprow said yesterday as he and five of the others lounged in a common area at the new location. "As soon as we saw this house was open, we jumped on it. It was the only one on the market at the time."

Goniprow was with friends when he heard about the fire. So was defensive back Kevin Gray. Offensive lineman Joe Krissel was visiting teammates. Linebacker Jake Lewko was in Ocean City, quarterback Brendan McNally was in Downingtown, and Barnes was in Chicago.

The only one to salvage anything was Goniprow, who lived on the bottom floor.

"It gets worse every day," Lewko said. "You think of stuff you don't have - when you think you had thought about everything."

"This is the first week students are back, and it turned everything upside-down," Gray said.

With the help of Campus Apartments, which donated bedding and other furniture, the Quaker Eight are on the rebound. Though the players can never replace the valuables they lost in the fire, they are getting used to their new digs and looking forward to preseason camp.

The team reports next Monday. Gray said the fire brought the Quakers, picked to finish second this season in the Ivy League, closer together.

"Right before football and how hard it was, let us know how tight we are as a team," he said. "Everybody on the team offered to help us in any way possible. It's good to know that teammates have your back, and going into a big season, it gives you a positive feeling."