Overloaded power strip causes $200,000 worth of damage to house
Colin Korz’s wake-up call Monday morning came in the form of a flaming wall collapsing on top of him in bed.
The second-year sports and entertainment management student was one of six USC students asleep in a duplex in the 1100 block of Olympia that caught fire early Monday morning, causing around $200,000 in damage.
Occupants quickly evacuated, no one was injured and the flames — caused by an overloaded power strip in a second-floor bedroom — were doused in under an hour, according to Columbia Fire Chief Aubrey Jenkins. The fire charred large sections of the house’s roof and siding, broke multiple window panes and left smoke detectors chirping insistently late into the afternoon.
“We had heavy smoke coming from the top of the structure, and when they got inside they found pretty heavy fire,” Jenkins said.
Korz said he was blown away by the sheer size of the blaze.
“I didn’t think it was going to be that serious,” Korz said. “But then I got a text from a friend saying they saw the smoke from Assembly Street.”
Five of the students living in the house, including Korz, are active members of the USC chapter of Beta Theta Pi fraternity and one is an inactive member, the organization’s president, Nathan Ewoldt confirmed Monday.
The fourth-year public health student said he was glad no one was hurt and thanked the community, specifically the Red Cross and the university for reaching out to those displaced by the fire.
The Red Cross sent three disaster responders to the scene, who provided the house’s residents with financial assistance to buy food and replace clothes, according to spokeswoman Anna Kate Christophillis.
“It’s so sad,” Christophillis said. “I hope the students can get through exam time and through the holidays and be home with their families.”
Korz’s father immediately left work and flew down from New Jersey when he heard about the fire. The two are staying in a hotel, and others are staying with friends or at the fraternity’s Greek Village house.
As for upcoming exams, Korz has emailed his professors with his father’s laptop — his own “might not be salvageable” — and he hopes to get at least some of them postponed while he gets his life back in order.
“This is the last time something like this should have happened,” he said.