Fire involving students

<p>Has anyone heard anything about the fire in NC that apparently has killed some USC students? My D called to say that she was supposed to have a meeting at her sorority today, and when she arrived, there was a note on the door saying that all meetings were cancelled due to an emergency. There are rumors around campus, and I found this posted on cnn.com:</p>

<p>OCEAN ISLE BEACH, North Carolina (AP) -- Fire swept through a beach house believed occupied by college students early Sunday, killing an unknown number of people and sending several to a hospital, authorities said.</p>

<p>Investigators had not yet been inside the house by late morning.</p>

<p>"We do know there are some fatalities," Mayor Debbie Smith said. "We do not know how many."</p>

<p>"I understand there were some college kids in the house. Some got out. Some did not," Mayor Debbie Smith said.</p>

<p>Smith said officials didn't immediately know how many died in the fire, but witnesses said investigators had started removing bodies from the charred wreckage by early afternoon.</p>

<p>"It's terrible to see somebody's children come out of that house this way," said Bob Alexander, who lives next to the home on Scotland Street.</p>

<p>The fire was under control by late Sunday morning, the mayor said.</p>

<p>Alexander said that while parts of the building's frame were still visible, "there's nothing usable left. It's completely destroyed."</p>

<p>The four-alarm blaze had "totally engulfed" the house a little before 7 a.m., said Nick Cain, a student at the University of North Carolina who was staying at a house about 100 feet away.</p>

<p>"The house is standing, but it's totally gutted," Cain said. "We ran down the street to get away. The ash and the smoke were coming down on us. We were just trying to get away."</p>

<p>Cain said some of his friends had met several people staying at the house, and he said most appeared to be students from the University of South Carolina.</p>

<p>Representatives of the South Carolina school had been in touch with officials in Ocean Isle Beach, but they had no solid information on how many USC students, if any, were involved, university spokesman Russ McKinney said.</p>

<p>Six people from the fire were taken to Brunswick Community Hospital, said spokeswoman Amy Myers. She said five were treated and released and the sixth was in listed in fair condition.</p>

<p>Ocean Isle Beach is at the far southern end of North Carolina's Atlantic Coast, about 30 miles north of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Only about 500 people live there year-round, but the town is home to several thousand rental and vacation homes and condos. E-mail to a</p>

<p>This is from USC's website:</p>

<p>October 28, 2007
University gathering information on Ocean Isle house fire</p>

<p>University of South Carolina officials are working with authorities in Ocean Isle, N.C., in gathering information related to a tragic house fire that occurred early Sunday (Oct. 28).</p>

<p>As of early Sunday afternoon, NO DEFINITIVE INFORMATION regarding the number of fatalities and/or the seriousness of the injuries had been released. There also was no information available as to the number of university students who may have been in the house at the time of the fire. No other information is available.</p>

<p>As information becomes available to the university, it will be posted on the university’s Web page (<a href="http://www.sc.edu%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.sc.edu&lt;/a&gt;) and updated throughout the day as the situation develops.</p>

<p>They just posted more on CNN.com. Now they are saying that 6 people died. This is so sad. My D went to the beach last weekend. My prayers go out to the families involved. My D said that some of the girls involved were from the tri delta sorority.</p>

<p>So far this is the most information that I've been able to find</p>

<p><a href="http://www.thestate.com/news/story/213625.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.thestate.com/news/story/213625.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>lots of information and video on the website of WISTV10
wistv.com</p>

<p>What a horrible tragedy. I'm so very sad for all of those involved. May God bless and give the strength to all who seek it at this time.</p>

<p>Spoke to S this morning. Football ticket distribution for the Florida game went on as usual,camping overnight on lines outside the Russell House. Rumors of names are swirling around.Lots of news trucks.He says its creepy that its the lead story on all the national news broadcasts,sort of like Virginia Tech.
Theres a vigil scheduled for Tuesday night, maybe they'll announce the names by then.</p>

<p>D knew most of the kids involved and very sadly one of the girls killed was one of her closest friends. She was very upset when she first called yesterday before facts started rolling in and as she learned who the victims were the calls became more frequent and more upsetting. When she learned the identity of the seventh victim, her close friend, she was hysterical....we met the girl and spent some time with her during parent's weekend......I am still numb thinking about the whole thing.</p>

<p>Another of her close friends who will be a roommate next year was supposed to go and decided at the last minute to stay in Columbia.</p>

<p>I am very upset that the news media is now showing videos of the house in flames and interviewing people saying they could hear the kids screaming.....such bad taste and something the parents, relatives and friends of the victims do NOT need to hear.</p>

<p>Please keep the whole USC community in your thoughts and prayers.</p>

<p>they are starting to release names.Just saw my local noon news here in NY and they identified one girl and the boy who jumped out of the window to safety.
Eadad, hope your D is okay and takes advantage of whatever grief services that are available.
They are reporting,whether its true or not, that "fire officials" are saying they think the cause was accidental and began on the back deck.</p>

<p>To all students and parents of students at University of South Carolina, condolences for this sad sad news. You are in our hearts and prayers.</p>

<ul>
<li>from a new VT parent</li>
</ul>

<p>Eadad, sorry but I cannot recall whether your daughter was a sorority member or not. I'm assuming that your daughter is a Tri Delt? Goodness, what a horrible experience for her. Please know that my prayers and hearfelt sympathy are with all of those affected by this horrible tragedy that claimed lives of the Carolina family. Were all the perished from South Carolina?</p>

<p>6 students were from the University of South Carolina and 1 was from Clemson. I saw on the news that one USC student was from Ohio.</p>

<p>carolcw</p>

<p>She is in a sorority but not a Tri Delt, however she has several good friends who are Tri Delts and in fact will probably have two Tri Delts as roommates next year. The girl from Ohio was one of her closest friends. She has good friends in a number of sororities; many were in her rush group, meaning they went through rush together and have remained friends.</p>

<p>This has been a rough couple of days for us but I cannot imagine what those familes are going through.</p>