UPDATE: Student from Hanover seriously injured in Hampden-Sydney fire

By: Times-Dispatch Staff | Times-Dispatch
Published: January 25, 2012
Updated: January 25, 2012 - 11:31 AM

Update:

A Hampden-Sydney College student seriously burned in a campus residence fire early today was identified by a school spokesman as Kirk Rohle, 20, of Mechanicsville.

Rohle, who played football for the college, suffered serious but non-life threatening burns, spokesman Thomas Shomo said.

A second student who suffered minor burns in the fire was identified as Benjamin Rogers. His age and home locality were not immediately known.

(This has been a breaking news update. Check back for more details as they become available. Read more in tomorrow's Richmond Times-Dispatch.)

Posted at 11:31 a.m.

HAMPDEN-SYDNEY -- A Hampden-Sydney College student was seriously burned in a fire at a campus residence before dawn today and flown to VCU Medical Center in Richmond for treatment.

School spokesman Thommy Shomo said the student, whose identity was not released, was one of eight students in the Tiger Athletic Club House when the fire was reported at 4:12 a.m.

"The burns were not life-threatening," Shomo said late this morning, "but he was seriously burned."

The other students living at the house, a residence that holds nine students who are either student-athletes or supporters of Hampden-Sydney athletics, drove to the Richmond hospital to be with their housemate, Shomo said. While at the hospital, one of the other students was treated for minor burns, Shomo said.

There were no other injuries.

Shomo said the TAC, which he desribed as a theme house instead of a fraternity, was a total loss. The TAC students will be given temporary housing in a campus fraternity house, he said.

The house had working smoke detectors that alerted the residents to the fire, which took about 90 minutes to bring under control, Shomo said.

College officials are investigating the fire, and Shomo said the Prince Edward County fire marshal will likely be consulted as well.

Shomo said early indications were that the fire may have started in some furniture on the front porch, but he added that the exact cause or point of origin remained unclear.

"It’s under investigation. We honestly do not know," he said. "But there’s no sense it was a suspicious fire or anything like that."

-- Joe Macenka