Leonardo"s Notebook by Mattheus Mei

I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do.

Monday, October 29, 2007

6 USC Students die in fire

Update::: Here are some pictures that J took at the Vigil :::
:::Update::: 6:15PM 10/29/07 ALL DEATHS OF THE OCEAN ISLE FIRE HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED let us pray for their families:::5:45 PM 10/29/07 According to The State Travis Cale, 20, of Greenville SC is the 7th person Identified as having perished in the fire:::5:30 The Clemson Student who perished has been identified as Emily Yelton:::2:45 10/29/07 Update William Rhea and Allison Walden are among the dead, his older brother Andrew lives:: Latest announcement 1:40pm 10/29/07, Brother mourns loss, Justin Anderson 19 of Greenville, is now officially known to have died in Sunday's Blaze. As of 12:23AM 10/29/07 we know Lauren Mahon of Greenville South Carolina and Cassidy Pendley of Charleston SC, per Facebook have died in the inferno, one of the survivors is SAE member Ray Charles of Tampa Florida, another survivor is Tripp Wylie also of Greenville:::More info as it becomes available::::

:::Update::: The NCBI and ATF will begin investigating the tragedy tomorrow morning, as of yet no mentioning of the identies of the victims in the Media, but families of the victims have been notified and have already begun meeting in Ocean Isle::A vigil is tentatively scheduled for 7:30 Tuesday night on the Horseshoe:: More info as it becomes available::::

Tragedy struck the Carolina Community early this morning as news has emerged that 13 students were involved in a blaze in Ocean Isle, NC. As of 5:30 pm the University has confirmed that of the 7 dead, six were from USC, 1 was from Clemson. Based on evidence from the scene, and information from the Carolina Community most of the students involved in the tragedy were members of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity, and Tri-Delt Sorority. WIS is reporting, as well as national news carrier CNN.

::Update:: The State has the latest updates which include some details that are a bit disturbing. Excerpts below.

"There were three kids sitting on the ground screaming," said newspaper deliverer Tim Burns, who called 911 after seeing a column of smoke rising from the house. "There was one guy hanging out the window and he jumped in the canal. I know he got out because he was yelling for a girl to follow him."

Burns said he didn't know if that girl was able to escape.

Burns said he had to fight to keep several of those who escaped from the fire from going back inside to try and rescue their friends. When he approached the front door, he said, it was much too hot to open.

"When I was going up to the entry way, you could hear the windows above me explode," Burns said. "When I knew the flames had taken over, I don't think I've ever felt as helpless in my life."

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2 comments:

Susan Duclos said...

Thanks for the update and I listed your URL as an update on my piece.

Appreciated.

Anonymous said...

I have a circle of SC alumni friends with a tradition of renting a beach house for one long weekend every year since we graduated. This tragedy resonates with me, as it easily could have happened to my friends.

One of your previous links mentioned that the AP is reporting that the fire started on the deck.

I know from my work experience that house fires which start from candles or ashtrays placed too close to combustible material often leave little causative evidence, other than the point of origin.

We may never know the cause of this fire, but more potentially tragic fires may be prevented if we're all more aware of avoidable fire hazards in the home.