Fire May Have Started on Deck of Beach House, Mayor Says

Oct 29, 08:20 PM

Current Headlines: OCEAN ISLE BEACH, N.C. _ Investigators combed through the gutted wreckage of a beach house Monday where seven South Carolina college students died the morning before in a wind-whipped blaze, searching for the charred evidence of the fire's cause.

Led by federal and state agents, fire sleuths believe the deadly flames first flared near a deck in back of the two-story house on Scotland Street, on a side facing a canal, but don't yet know what set it off, Mayor Debbie Smith said. Investigators believe the fire was accidental, she said, its consequences grimly different from those of the storms that batter the North Carolina coast.

"We've had our share of hurricanes," she said. "We've never had anything like this."

The Sunday morning fire swept through the cream-colored wooden house perched on heavy pilings and left no escape for more than half the 13 students sleeping inside _ a tragic end to what had been a fun weekend of watching football at the beach.

The dead, whose names are not being officially released until their identifications are confirmed by the state medical examiner in Chapel Hill, perished in the bedrooms on the top floor of the smoke and fire-infested house. The six who escaped the blaze were all on the first floor _ at least one male student jumped to safety.

Now, memorials have been set up at the University of South Carolina, where six of the deceased studied, and at Clemson University, which lost one student. Flags have been dropped to half-mast, grief counselors dispatched, and a nationwide network of sorority sisters and fraternity brothers have offered prayers, e-mails, flowers, food.

"It really means a lot to us that so many people are here for us through these hard times," said Lauren Hodge, president of the sorority's USC chapter. "We have to keep in mind that it has affected the entire campus and all of the families of the members."

Its roof and windows missing and most of the sides blackened, the destroyed home offered a sharp contrast to the other white and pastel houses throughout the small beach town. Smith said the town police were investigating the fire with the State Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. She said she hoped to have a report in a few days.

Early indications don't point to any structural problems with the house itself.

Built in 2000, the six-bedroom, 2,533 square-foot house had been built mostly out of wood and sat on stilts, according to Brunswick County property records. The exterior was sheathed with vinyl siding and the home had seven fireplaces.

Fire Chief Robert Yoho said the house _ a private dwelling, not a rental cottage _ had the required smoke alarms in bedrooms and a nearby hallway. It lacked a sprinkler system, which was not required.

"I'm sure it was all up to code," he said. "That house slept 13 and that's how many were there."

Town officials said their inspections department had no specific information on the house because records on building permits are only kept for a few years.

The home, called "Changing Channels," belonged to the family of Katherine Auman, a USC student, according to the family's pastor, the Rev. Tony Medlin of St. Luke's United Methodist Church in Hartsville, S.C. She is a 2007 pledge of the Delta Delta Delta sorority, according to a sorority Web site hosted by the university. She was in the house when the fire began, but escaped, Medlin said.

Auman was one of the 12 students in the house who were either members of chapters of that sorority or the fraternity Sigma Alpha Epsilon at the University of South Carolina. One student who died in the fire attended Clemson University.

Like most homes and motels in Ocean Isle, the house had an open parking area underneath, and two floors above.

The weekend had been spent watching football and grilling out using a charcoal grill in the home's carport, said Rebecca Wood, a University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill student who got to know some of the South Carolina crowd over the weekend.

The group was not being careless with fire, she said.

"There wasn't a party. Nothing was out of hand. Nothing was out of line," Wood said.

Wood was one of about 35 UNC-CH students who had spent Saturday night in two houses neighboring the South Carolina students. They were part of a pledge weekend for the co-ed service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega.

After the fire Sunday, the group was sent to town hall to be interviewed by investigators.

"I tried looking back on my camera to see if they were in the background of any of the pictures, to give the police some faces," said UNC-CH junior Stephanie Wilkins. Unfortunately, there weren't any shots of the fire victims.

Now, the students are left wondering how a fire could spread so quickly and be so deadly.

Strong winds and the home's wooden construction were a factor, said Yoho.

Shortly after 7 a.m., a fire crew crossing Odell Williamson Bridge from the mainland saw the flames from about two miles away.

About 50 firefighters responded to the blaze, where flames rolled through windows and onto the roof.

Even though help arrived within minutes, the home was completely engulfed. Firefighters took about 45 minutes to contain it.

Asked why the house burned so rapidly, Yoho replied, "oxygen." He said the wood construction and strong winds contributed to the spread. Since the house was elevated, that allowed wind to whip underneath.

However, the department received some major breaks. Winds blew out of the north, pushing flames over the canal and open space, he said. Had it been out of the south, the fire could have easily reached nearby homes

On Monday, sight of the charred remains of the home drew sightseers' eyes away from Ocean Isle's scenic oceanfront.

Smith, the town mayor, said the two-story wood construction is typical of most structures in the town of about 500 residents. The town's two-lane streets, many named for North Carolina towns and counties, are lined with sidewalks and grassy parking areas.

Smith said Ocean Isle is primarily a family oriented town and only about half of the 3,200 houses and condominiums are rentals. She contrasted Ocean Isle's laid back lifestyle with beach resorts such as Myrtle Beach to the south, which often draws rowdy revelers, motorcycle gatherings or hordes of college students.

"We're not like Daytona Beach on spring break," she said. "There's not much going on after sunset. It's not a big party place."

___

(c) 2007, The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.).

Visit The News & Observer online at http://www.newsobserver.com/

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

_____

PHOTOS (from MCT Photo Service, 202-383-6099): BEACHHOUSEFIRE

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. 1050544