Students believed caught in N.C. beach house fire

[PVFD233 68]

COURTESY CNN.COM

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.

Investigators had not yet been inside the house by late morning.

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

"I understand there were some college kids in the house. Some got out. Some did not," the mayor said.

The fire was under control by late Sunday morning, the mayor said.

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.

"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."

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.

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.

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.

COURTESY CNN.COM

Prayers go out to the families. Horrible way to die.

[GFD70 4]

FoxNews.com reporting 7 dead:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,305739,00.html

[xfirefighter484x 234]

Terrible. Absolutely disgusting, and terrible.

[Guest]

The home had working smoke detectors, Smith said

Then y do we have 7 dead? Bet they just inored it like many do

[DOC22 1]

Then y do we have 7 dead? Bet they just inored it like many do

Tragic, beyond comprehension. I have to agree with dave27. If the smoke detectors were working, then, in God's name WHY do we have 7 young lives lost?????

[Guest partyrock]

Where were the smoke detectors and what were the kids doing last night? Smoke detectors on a different floor from the kids plus a hard night out equals no one hearing the alarm. Don't even have to be drunk, just a long night hanging out plus an hour or two of sleep would let anyone sleep through it. Small house I doubt they could have ignored it and not smelled smoke. Also figure the kids came home and not being in the best frame of mind maybe tried cooking something and forgot about it. Now you have a very strong ignition source on the main floor blocking off the primary means of egress. Another tragic accident.