Two Hampden-Sydney College (HSC) students were injured in a house fire early last Wednesday morning, one of them seriously burned. According to the HSC Director of Communications, Thomas Shomo, the fire was called in at 4:12 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 25. Three fire companies — Hampden-Sydney, Farmville and Darlington Heights — responded to the blaze at the Tiger Athletic Club (TAC) on College Road.
Kirk Rohle, 20, of Mechanicsville, Va., was airlifted to VCU Medical College of Virginia in Richmond, Va. for treatment. Rohle received second and third degree burns on his body. The other student, Benjamin Rogers, had minor burns and was transported privately to the hospital. Both students are on the HSC football team. Rohle's sister, Hannah, is a Class of ‘09 Longwood graduate.
Shomo said nine students lived in the two-story home, which he added is a total loss, but only eight were at home Wednesday morning. At least one vehicle was partially burned in the blaze as well. Shomo said the students would be moved to an alternate location on HSC's campus. "We are moving all of them so they can stay together in a fraternity house not currently in use," Shomo said in a phone interview Wednesday.
Shomo said the college sent out an alert Wednesday morning to students via email and text message. Messages were also posted to the college's website and on electronic message boards throughout campus. Shomo said the message read that there was a fire at a house and that one person was injured and the incident was under control. He said at the time the alert was sent out, they knew of only one injury.
The fire is believed to have started after a cigarette was left smoldering on a sofa on the home's porch. Shomo said the insurance company would make the final determination of the fire. He did say, however, "We believe that and have no reason to believe otherwise that the cigarette on the sofa caused the fire." Shomo said the smoke alarms inside the house were working at the time.
Longwood students are assisting in helping the men of the TAC house get back on their feet. Sigma Nu fraternity collected food, electronics and essentials last week to donate to the students who lost their home.
"We decided to have events to help out the men of TAC because as Greek students, we feel it is important to not only support our peers on Longwood's campus, but also support those in our community," said David Clipp of Sigma Nu. Clipp said the fraternity had a bowling event last week that brought in monetary donations.
"We are still collecting, but we've learned that monetary donations are preferable so that the guys can go out and buy their sizes in clothes rather than getting 100 pairs of pants that don't fit," said Clipp.
For more information, please call Clipp at 804-389-0777 or Aaron Taylor at 804-335-4150.
In an email to students last week, Longwood President Patrick Finnegan said, "These are difficult times for all involved, so I ask that you keep the HSC community and especially these students and their families in your thoughts."
