Friends, families mourn 7 college students killed in fire

OCEAN ISLE BEACH, N.C. -- For the group of college buddies spending a late-season weekend at a friend's beach house, the deck overlooking a canal was the center of their good times.

It was where they talked, listened to music and danced late into the night.

But investigators fear the deck just two blocks from the beach may also have been the starting point of a fast-moving fire that killed seven people, including a group of high school friends who went off to college together.

"It sounded like they were having a good time. Unfortunately, the fire didn't show any mercy," said Terry Walden, whose 19-year-old daughter, Allison, died in the blaze. "They probably never woke up."

The storm of fire and smoke -- so daunting that firefighters radioed for backup before they even arrived at the scene -- enveloped the home early Sunday, killing six students from the University of South Carolina and one from Clemson University. Six other South Carolina students in the house survived.

Classes went on as scheduled Monday at South Carolina's Columbia campus, but grief counselors were available for the 27,000 students. Clemson also offered counseling.

About 1,000 people gathered on campus Monday evening to hear words of consolation. "Please reach out to one another, don't let others suffer in silence," USC President Andrew Sorensen said.

About 90 miles from Columbia in Simpsonville, more than 100 people gathered at an elementary school to pray for the victims. Officials and other families have said a number of the students killed went to high school together in nearby Greenville.

Chip Auman, whose family owned the beach house and whose daughter was injured in the fire, said his relatives were "numb, shocked and confused."

"There are no words to describe what we've been going through," Auman said at the Carolina Pines Regional Medical Center in Hartsville, S.C. "We are living a nightmare."

Katherine Auman, 18, was in stable but guarded condition, he said.

Mayor Debbie Smith said Monday that investigators believe the fire was likely accidental and started in the rear of the house, either on or near the deck facing the canal on the west side of the house.

That side of the residence appeared to be the most heavily damaged.

Investigators should be able to determine where the fire started, but may have trouble finding a specific cause, said Dr. Rolin Barrett, a consulting engineer with Raleigh-based Barrett Engineering who has been involved in almost 1,000 fire investigations.