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Survivor Describes Escape From Fire

By PETE IACOBELLI,
AP
Posted: 2007-10-30 12:55:41
Filed Under: Nation News
COLUMBIA, S.C. (Oct. 30) - A student who survived a beach house inferno by leaping from a third-story window said Tuesday he wasn't sure what woke him up, but he had to make the decision to jump quickly because smoke was filling the room.

Tripp Wylie, a student at the University of South Carolina, said he heard crackling and popping after he awoke Sunday, then opened the bedroom door, letting smoke in. He went to the window and saw flames coming from the front of the house and a canal underneath it. As it became harder to breathe, he stuck his head outside.

Photo Gallery: 'Living a Nightmare'

Mary Ann Chastain, AP

Members of the Delta Delta Delta sorority at the University of South Carolina embrace Tuesday at a memorial for seven victims of a beach house fire in North Carolina.

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"You knew you had to jump at some point; that was the only option," he told ABC's "Good Morning America."

Wylie said he made "a very lucky jump," clearing a concrete bank around the canal to reach safety. His friends weren't as lucky. Seven of them died in the fire at the Ocean Isle Beach, N.C., beach house, and six others were injured escaping it.

The victims included an aspiring attorney, a high school homecoming queen, fraternity men and sorority women. They were ardent football fans, out for a good time at the beach.

Six of those killed attended the University of South Carolina. A seventh went to Clemson University. Officials have said many were members of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and Delta Delta Delta sorority — and some had gone to high school together in Greenville.

"There are no words to describe what we've been going through," Chip Auman — whose family owns the Ocean Isle Beach, N.C., vacation house — said while visiting his hospitalized daughter. "We are living a nightmare."

Debbie Smith, mayor of the resort community, said Monday investigators believe the fire was likely accidental and started in the rear of the house, either on or near a deck facing a canal. That side of the home appeared to be the most heavily damaged. Most of the victims were found in the home's five bedrooms.

"It's an awful loss for someone that had a pretty good future in front of her," Terry Walden said of his daughter, Allison, from his Ohio home. "It sounded like they were having a good time. Unfortunately, the fire didn't show any mercy."

Investigators quizzed dozens of college students who filled several homes near the site of the disaster.

Rebecca Wood, the president of the Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity at the University of North Carolina, said police wanted to know if the college students were using a grill or small outdoor fireplace. She told investigators all the grilling was done far from the house.

Police in the beachfront community, which has only about 500 full-time residents, are working with the State Bureau of Investigation and federal officials. Autopsies will take place at the state medical examiner's office in Chapel Hill.

"It may be a few days," spokeswoman Sharon Artis said. "We have not identified any of them yet."

Condolences have been flooding into the Columbia school of 27,000 students, and officials urged them to support each other.

"Please reach out to one another, don't let others suffer in silence," school president Andrew Sorensen told a nighttime gathering of about 1,000 students.

About 90 miles from Columbia in Simpsonville, more than 100 people gathered at an elementary school to pray for the victims.

University officials said names of those who died may not be released until Wednesday, but some relatives and friends of the victims talked Monday about their losses.

Anna Lee Rhea said her older brother, William, was among the dead — a devastating blow to their brother Andrew, who made it out of the house alive.

"Everybody loved him. Everybody really misses him," she said in a brief telephone interview from the family's home in Florence. "You couldn't help but love him."

Anna Lee Rhea said her brother was a huge fan of South Carolina's Gamecocks. The brother of another victim, Justin Anderson, said the same thing about him.

Amanda Palacio, who went to high school with South Carolina freshman Lauren Mahon in Simpsonville, described her best friend as someone who talked fast and was always on the go. "She was a great girl. She still is," Palacio said.

Mahon and Palacio were born just three days apart and Palacio said they were looking forward to celebrating their 19th birthday party together in the spring.

"She was always on the go with something new, saying, 'Let's do this, OK, let's do this,'" Palacio said. "Very spontaneous. Just laid-back. Not a care in the world. Just had it all together."

Mahon had plans to work in real estate law one day, Palacio said.

Cassidy Pendley, 19, was a freshman at the University of South Carolina who played soccer and was a cheerleader at Fort Dorchester High School near Charleston, her boyfriend told WCSC-TV on Monday.

Reid McCollum, quarterback for the rival Summerville high school, met Pendley two years ago when she was junior homecoming queen.

"A lot of people tried to put that in between us but we knew that we both loved each other. We just clicked and just enjoyed spending time with each other," said McCollum, who planned to follow her to the school.

Associated Press writers Jacob Jordan in Hartsville, Seanna Adcox in Simpsonville, Estes Thompson in Ocean Isle Beach, N.C., and Mike Baker in Raleigh, N.C., contributed to this report.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
2007-10-28 17:45:57
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6281 comments

jessieatlanta 09:08:44 PM Nov 04 2007

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i feel bad about that my cousin died in a fire. say a blessing

rivervu2 12:30:57 AM Nov 04 2007

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I'm very disappointed that AOL doesn't monitor it's posts. I hope the affected families and friends don't ever see what filth has been posted here. This tragic event should be responded to with respect by all posters. My thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of the victims whose young and promising ives were cut short by this most awful of events.

rivervu2 12:16:48 AM Nov 04 2007

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So sorry I read some of the comments after my posting. I hope the families of the victims don't. What happened was a tragedy and a terrible loss. Prayers to the families and friends.

rivervu2 11:59:47 PM Nov 03 2007

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So sorry for the loss of these promising lives. So sorry for their families. Such a tragic loss. My thoughts and prayers are with their families and friends.

rivervu2 11:58:03 PM Nov 03 2007

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So sorry for the loss of these promising lives. So sorry for their families. Such a tragic loss. My thoughts and prayers are with their families and friends.

jpowell154 08:24:47 PM Nov 03 2007

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Blaming the fire fighters!! What a crock. Hey people

S**T HAPPENS

Sometimes it a'nt fair, but that's the way it is. Get over it and quit trying to find somebody to BLAME. Why does it always have to be "somebody" fault?
Go shake your fist at "God" you fools.

She33g 07:57:28 PM Nov 03 2007

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http://www.tineataexhibit.com

horsespirit898 07:29:00 PM Nov 03 2007

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when i first saw the picture of the front of the house in the headline of the newspaper, i thought that it did not look too bad. but then i read on about how seven people were killed. then they showed a picture of the back of the house, and i couldn't believe it! it is... completely gone. i think the fire was started by accident... but what about the smoke detectors? were they not working, or not there at all? God bless the families of those seven students and their friends.

horsespirit898 07:29:00 PM Nov 03 2007

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when i first saw the picture of the front of the house in the headline of the newspaper, i thought that it did not look too bad. but then i read on about how seven people were killed. then they showed a picture of the back of the house, and i couldn't believe it! it is... completely gone. i think the fire was started by accident... but what about the smoke detectors? were they not working, or not there at all? God bless the families of those seven students and their friends.

theharps2 03:10:32 PM Nov 03 2007

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Know one needs to blame it on anyone Just pray for the family's of all of them God Bless

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