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Fire takes lives of 3 UW-Stout students

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Also by Nick Penzenstadler:

Police arrest intoxicated man (March 10, 2008)

by Nick Penzenstadler

Monday, April 7, 2008

MENOMONIE — Students wept and shook their heads, looking for answers Saturday at a news conference after the early morning deaths of three University of Wisconsin-Stout students.

Amanda Jean Rief, 20, from Chaska, Minn.; April C. Englund, 21, from St. Paul, Minn.; and Scott A. Hams, 23, from Hayward, all were found in a two-story structure and rushed to an area hospital but could not be revived.

According to Menomonie Fire Chief Jack Baus, police received a call from neighbors who heard smoke alarms at 3:32 a.m. Firefighters arrived on the scene at 3:37 a.m. They used thermal imaging equipment to locate the three victims in three separate bedrooms on the second floor of the 1415 8th St. residence.

“We attempted resuscitation as soon as possible upon removal from the house, and medics did what they could to revive them,” Baus said.

Six other students living in the back half of the duplex all evacuated safely Saturday and made the call to 911. When officials arrived, only moderate smoke was present in the basement and on the first and second floors.

State fire marshals will join city and county officials in investigating the fire that had no obvious cause. Thirty firefighters worked on the blaze and had it under control by 4:30 a.m., according to Baus.

Menominee police chief Dennis Beety said there was some indication alcohol may have been a contributing factor for the three students sleeping through fire alarms.

“There was a bottle of alcohol found in the apartment with its top off, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they were drinking,” Beety said.

UW-Stout officials said Englund was the only victim who lived in the unit, and Rief and Hams spent the night in the rental because Englund’s roommates had left town.

Lt. Wendi Stelter expressed sympathy for family and friends and said the preliminary indication was that smoke inhalation was the cause of death, with no other major traumas to the students.

Beety said the older home was located off campus but was up to fire code, and the alarms were working during the fire.

All UW-Stout students received an e-mail Saturday morning, and campus officials will continually update the school’s website, uwstout.edu, with details. A grief center with counselors was also established Saturday at a campus commons.

“We are grieving, and we will continue grieving for a while with the loss of these lives,” Chancellor Charles Sorenson said.

Sorenson said the fire was the first time anyone has died at Stout due to fire and the first time a student has died on campus in the chancellor’s tenure of 20 years.

“It’s a real tragedy; no campus prepares for this,” Sorenson said. “There will be lots of tears, hugging and support as we get through this.”

With the shocking death of the three students, Baus emphasized care in handling flammable materials in student housing.

“Students should check their smoke detectors, be careful with matches and candles,” Baus said. “They also should have good housekeeping with laundry and garbage that can be too close to heating sources.”

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