COLUMBIA (WACH) - Half a dozen University of South Carolina students are safe after awakening to a fire in their home Monday morning.
Students living at the corner of Alabama Street and Olympia Avenue in Columbia discovered their house was on fire and called 911 around 8 a.m. Monday.
Firefighters arriving at the two-story house found heavy smoke coming from the roof. They entered the house, but heavy flames and a collapsing roof drove them out of the structure.
According to the Columbia Fire Department, the fire forced city officals to close part of Olympia and Florida Streets. Six out of the seven people in the house are students at USC.
Authorities say the blaze was extinguised within an hour.
Columbia Fire Chief Aubrey Jenkins estimated the damage to be about $200,000. The Red Cross is responding to help the residents to the home.
(Drew Stewart and Ivory Hecker contributed to this report.)
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