Beach house owner 'numb, confused' after fire kills 7 students
(CNN) -- The owner of a North Carolina beach house where seven college students died in a weekend fire said Monday that his family's "lives were just changed forever" by the tragedy.
The house in Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina, was "engulfed in flames," a neighbor says. Six University of South Carolina students and a Clemson University student died in the fire early Sunday morning in Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina. Two college campuses mourned Monday.
Six other South Carolina students were able to get out of the house in time. The six were treated and released from nearby Brunswick Community Hospital in Hartsville, South Carolina.
Pruitt said meetings had been held Sunday with members of Delta Delta Delta sorority and Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. The South Carolina students were affiliated with those houses, he said, although he stressed that the weekend was not an official Greek function.
Authorities from the state Bureau of Investigation and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are leading the investigation into the cause of the fire.
Lauren Mahon
University of South Carolina freshman Lauren Mahon was always on the go, had a shopping obsession and talked at about "90 miles per hour," her best friend and roommate said Monday.
"She'd always say, 'If you listen closely, I make perfect sense. Sometimes I just have a hard time expressing my thoughts,'" said Amanda Palacio, who went to high school with Mahon in Simpsonville. "She was a great girl. She still is."
Palacio described the Delta Delta Delta sorority member as fun-loving and always ready with a joke -- someone who "lived life to the fullest."
Mahon had plans to work in real estate law one day, Palacio said.
Allison Walden
Sophomore Allison Walden, 19, grew up in the Midwest but sought out warmer weather for her college experience, her father said by telephone from Chagrin Falls, Ohio. Terry Walden said his daughter was always cheerful, positive and liked to have a good time -- but also studied hard. She was impressed by the Greek life facilities at the University of South Carolina, he said.
Walden said he spoke with his daughter's roommate, who said the group was up most of the night listening to music and partying.
Cassidy Pendley
Cassidy Pendley, 19, was a freshman at the University of South Carolina who played soccer and was a cheerleader at Fort Dorchester High School near Charleston, her boyfriend told WCSC-TV on Monday.
The Web site of the Delta Delta Delta sorority says Pendley was a member of the 2007 pledge class.
The Associated Press on Monday evening was not immediately returned.
