The story as reported in The Commercial Appeal
They don't call it The Clarion-Liar for nothing.
Fraternity house fire at Ole Miss kills three
Clarksdale 19-year-old among victims
By The Associated Press
August 27, 2004
OXFORD, Miss. - Three students were killed early Friday when a fire swept through a fraternity house at the University of Mississippi during the first week of classes, school officials said.
Twenty other students and a house mother escaped the two-story, brick- and wood-frame Alpha Tau Omega house, school spokesman Mitchell Diggs said. He said there were no injuries. The cause was not immediately known.
University spokesman Jeff Alford identified two of the victims as Jordan Williams, 20, of Atlanta, and William Townsend, 19, of Clarksdale, both sophomores majoring in accounting.
Alford said the body of the third victim has not been identified. However, Alford said the third missing student from the fire had been identified as Howard Stone, 19, of Martinsville, Va., a sophomore political science major.
Alford, assistant vice chancellor of student relations, said authorities believed the fire started in the living area. He said there were no injuries.
"Two bodies were found in the basement and one body was found in the floor above," Alford said.
Alford said he did not know which student was found where.
He said the university would not speculate on what might have caused the fire.
"I think it is certainly accurate to say that by ever appearance it started in the southeast corner of the building. That's about the best judgment we can make," Alford said.
Firefighters needed about two hours to bring the blaze under control, chapter adviser Al Bell said. Hours later, smoke billowed out of where the roof had been, and much of the upper floor was in ruins.
A fraternity member who was not at the house when the fire occurred said fellow members told him they woke up coughing and found smoke "everywhere."
"They said they just ran out as fast as they could, to get out of that building as fast as possible," said Sean Weidlein, 19, of Middleburg, Va.
Among the survivors, "things are pretty rough right now," Weidlein said.
Fred Cummings, 19, a member of the Ole Miss cross country team who was out running at 6 a.m., said the smoke was so thick "it would choke you up" a mile away.
"When we saw it, the flames were about two stories above the building," he said.
At least three fire trucks remained outside the house in the early afternoon, and students stood outside yellow police tape as authorities moved through the charred structure.
Alford said the fraternity house had undergone a routine fire inspection Aug. 17, before students moved in for the fall semester. Most classes began Monday.
Problems found included a lack of fire extinguishers in the kitchen area, paint stored in the basement and doors blocked with mattresses.
Alford did not know of any citation issued to the fraternity.
The chapter has about 100 members, Bell said. Temporary housing was being found for displaced students, he said.
"The entire student body is pretty upset about this. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Alpha Tau Omega chapter," said Gordon Fellows, Associate Student Body president at Ole Miss.
Nearby fraternity houses were evacuated. ATO members were taken to one of them.
Federal, state and local investigators will help determine the fire's cause, said Mark R. Chait, who heads the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives office in New Orleans.
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Prayers for the three young men who lost their lives all too soon!
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