Student killed in dorm fire at Southern Adventist
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The cause of the blaze in the women’s dorm at Southern Adventist University was not immediately known. Fire officials said most of the damage appeared to be around a third-floor laundry and lobby area in the brick building.
Steve Pawluk, the university’s vice president of academic administration, said the 36-year-old dorm was up to code.
University officials identified the student who died as Kelly Weimer, a 20-year-old junior English major from Woodridge, Ill. Her roommate was among those who made it safely out of the building.
Firefighters used ladders to rescue two other students who were leaning from the window of a smoke-filled room. They were treated at a hospital and released.
Natalia Lopez-Thismon, 18, a freshman from Miami who was on the third floor, said she thought the alarm was a drill.
“I thought to myself, ‘Why are they holding a fire drill?’ I opened my door to see if it was a real fire and I smelled smoke,” she said.
The 2,400-student university in Collegedale, a Chattanooga suburb, is affiliated with the Silver Spring, Md.-based Seventh-day Adventist Church.
Shirley Menhennett, the manager of a restaurant across the street from campus, said Weimer worked part-time there as a cashier. She said she last saw her Monday morning.
“I said, ‘I’ll see you tomorrow, Kelly,'” Menhennett said. “I guess it just shows you how fragile life is.”
The fire is the second tragedy at the college in recent months. In December, a plane crash killed the pilot and four church leaders who had been at the university for a meeting.
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On the Net:
Southern Adventist University: http://www.southern.edu/