News & Observer | newsobserver.com | Monument to honor fire victims

Published: May 15, 2008 12:30 AM
Modified: May 15, 2008 02:43 AM

Monument to honor fire victims

Story Tools

Advertisements
WILMINGTON - A cross-shaped monument will be unveiled this week at Ocean Isle Beach to honor seven South Carolina college students killed in a beach house fire in October.

The Star-News of Wilmington reported Wednesday that the monument will be at the base of the Odell Williamson Bridge. A private donor is providing the cross, which will have each victim's name.

A memorial service will be held Friday, but Town Administrator Daisy Ivey said the victims' families asked that the event be private.

The five-bedroom home was engulfed in flames as the students gathered to enjoy one of the season's last weekends of pleasant beach weather. Six students from the University of South Carolina survived, including one who jumped from a window of the burning home and into an adjacent canal.

The USC students killed were: Cassidy Pendley, 18; Astrid Mahon, 18; Justin Michael Anderson, 19; Travis Lane Cale, 19; Allison Walden, 18; and William Rhea, 18.

Clemson University student Emily Yelton, 18, also died.

The seven died of smoke inhalation and carbon monoxide poisoning. State medical examiners concluded there was no evidence of any other injuries.

All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be published, broadcast or redistributed in any manner.
No comments have been posted for this story. Log in to be the first to comment.


The News & Observer is pleased to be able to offer its users the opportunity to make comments and hold conversations online. However, the interactive nature of the internet makes it impracticable for our staff to monitor each and every posting.

Since The News & Observer does not control user submitted statements, we cannot promise that readers will not occasionally find offensive or inaccurate comments posted on our website. In addition, we remind anyone interested in making an online comment that responsibility for statements posted lies with the person submitting the comment, not The News and Observer.

If you find a comment offensive, clicking on the exclamation icon will flag the comment for review by the administrators, we are counting on the good judgment of all our readers to help us.

Print Ads View all ads from past 7 days »

Hosting Partners of
newsobserver.com

Member of the
Real Cities Network

A subsidiary of The McClatchy Company