By Anna Simon and Tim Smith STAFF WRITERS The Greenville News
CLEMSON -- Students and community members filled Clemson University's amphitheater Wednesday night at a prayer vigil to remember the seven victims of a Sunday beach-house fire.
The crowd was filled with people wearing white ribbons in memory of Clemson sophomore Emily Yelton of Greenville, and six University of South Carolina students who died in the fire at Ocean Isle Beach, N.C.
At the conclusion of the vigil, seven wreaths representing the seven students were placed in Clemson's Class of 1943 Carillon Garden as a place of remembrance.
Yelton, 19, a prebusiness student, was a member of Delta Zeta sorority and a graduate of Greenville's J.L. Mann High School.
The University of South Carolina students were: Lauren Astrid Mahon, 18, a freshman from Simpsonville; Justin Michael Anderson, 19, a sophomore from Greenville; Travis Lane Cale, 19, a freshman from Greenville; Cassidy Fae Pendley, 18, a freshman from Chapin; William Robert Rhea, 18, a freshman from Florence; Allison Christine Walden, 19, a sophomore from Chagrin Falls, Ohio.
On Wednesday, North Carolina's State Bureau of Investigation released its hold on the contents of the burned Ocean Isle Beach home, leaving insurance investigators to pore over the ruins.
Ocean Isle Beach Mayor Debbie Smith said one family had picked up one of the four cars that had been parked in the home's driveway at the time of the fire.
Also, the North Carolina chief medical examiner said all of the students died from smoke inhalation and carbon monoxide poisoning, The Associated Press reported. "There was no evidence of any other injuries," Dr. John Butts said.
Randy Thompson, emergency services director for Brunswick County, said he expects the State Bureau of Investigation in North Carolina to issue a summary of its fire findings Friday.
"I feel sure it's going to address cause and origin," he said. "I don't know to what extent." Thompson said a more extensive report will be issued in weeks or months.
He also said Wednesday that a routine review will be done of the way six dispatchers handled the almost two dozen 911 calls about the fire. He said "there have been some opinions voiced" about the manner in which some of the calls were handled, but none from the public safety community.
"As far as the information getting out on the call, and what type of call it was, all that was in accordance with the procedures," he said. He said the majority of callers were giving dispatchers details of what they were witnessing, including the magnitude of the fire.
The first call came in at 6:58 a.m., he said. Ocean Isle officials said police arrived at 7:03 and fire trucks four minutes later. By then the home, built in 1999, was fully aflame.
Investigators believe the fire may have started in the area of the back deck facing west, Thompson said.
At the Clemson vigil Wednesday night, Yelton's twin sister, Meredith, also a Clemson sophomore, prebusiness major and member of Delta Zeta, read a letter she wrote to her twin and two of the USC victims: "Half of me is gone."
"If I could only hear you call Emily 'Baby' one more time, I would be the happiest girl in the world," she said, reading her words to her sister's boyfriend, Cale.
"You were always a ray of sunshine," she said, reading her words to Anderson, 19, her best friend, and recalling the day he scored his first high school soccer goal.
The gathering was to mourn one of Clemson's own and, as students of the state of South Carolina, "to mourn the loss of seven of our own," said Callie Boyd, Clemson student body vice president.
"Gamecocks and Tigers are fierce rivals on the field," but they are connected off the field by family, friends, and campus organizations, Boyd said.
"We must remember that we are not enemies, but we are allies in the game of life," Boyd said.
At the conclusion of the vigil, seven wreaths representing the seven students were taken from the amphitheater stage and placed in Clemson's Class of 1943 Carillon Garden as a remembrance.
During the vigil, members of Delta Zeta, Yelton's sorority, collected children's books. The books will be given to South Carolina First Steps, a program to help young children prepare for school, in memory of Yelton.
Books can be dropped off through Nov. 9 at Clemson's Fraternity and Sorority Life office at 602 University Union.
After the vigil, Clemson was to open Vickery Hall for two hours for students who have lost friends in what has been a tragic school year so far.
Vickery Hall also will be open Sunday through Tuesday nights 810 p.m. for reflection, remembrance, prayer and meditation to remember the fire victims and other students who died this year, including Clemson students Amy Moxie and Taylor Cox and USC student Taylor Cothran of Greenville, said Joy Smith, dean of students at Clemson.
In addition, some students have private losses of family members and friends in addition to the more public tragedies, Smith said.
Counselors and campus ministers will be available at Vickery during these times, Smith said.
In addition to the seven fire victims, Moxie, a Mauldin High graduate, collapsed while jogging on campus and died of a torn aorta; Cox, a Lexington High graduate, collapsed on an intramural field just before the start of a flag football game; and Cothran, a J.L. Mann graduate, fell from a USC residence hall window.
11/1/2007 10:50:08 AM
