East Carolinian

Issue date: 1/29/09 Section: News

Media Credit: Elise Phillips

Several streets were blocked off this morning as fire and rescue personnel rushed to extinguish a fire that raged the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity house on Summit Street. Greenville Fire and Rescue received the call reporting the blaze at 6:23 a.m. and 10 units equipped with approximately 25 to 30 personnel were on the scene four minutes later.

Batallion chief of the Life and Safety Division for Greenville Fire and Rescue, Doug Branch, said that the fire most likely started five to 10 minutes before the call was received, and that the house was equipped with a fire alarm system-which was operating correctly.

"The house is a total loss," he said.

The fire was declared contained around 10:30 a.m., but Branch says that the fire and rescue units will be on the scene until the investigation is complete, which "will be the majority of the day," he said.

Nine students live in the SPE house, and eight escaped unharmed. One student, Matt Lollar, was transported to Pitt County Memorial Hospital after fire and rescue units arrived, but was discharged later in the day.

Branch says that the students escaped by way of "windows, doors and the porch."

Fraternity members were instructed not to speak with reporters, but several students who live on Summit witnessed the blaze.

Three students who live on the corner of Fourth and Summit Streets heard the sirens and stepped outside to take a look at the fire.

"I saw the flames around 6 a.m.," said Chas Cohn, senior criminal justice major. "My first reaction was to make sure everyone was OK. "

Cohn's roommate, senior marketing major Mike Hunt said that he came to the scene later on, but that he knew several of the students who lived in the fraternity house.

"I knew most of the kids [and] I was just happy they were OK," Hunt said.

Another student, senior Steven Segal, said that he heard that "several of the kids lost everything."

The Red Cross Disaster Relief unit received an emergency message and responded to the scene around 7:30 a.m., providing food and beverages for the victims and the fire and rescue workers. George Keville, a volunteer with the Red Cross, said that the organization gave clothing assistance to those involved in the fire.

"We respond to every fire, 24 hours a day, seven days a week," Keville said. "We have a brand new vehicle that we were delighted to be able to use to assist the victims."

Executive director of university communications John Durham said that he was not at the scene, but was "glad that there were no serious injuries."



This writer can be contacted at editor@theeastcarolinian.com.

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