Reporter: Sally Delta
Farmville, VA - Some Hampden Sydney students are recovering Wednesday night after a fire tore through one of their houses on campus.
The early morning blaze left two victims with burns. One was airlifted to a Richmond hospital.
Nine people were inside asleep when the fire started, and they all got out okay. Officials say this story could have quickly turned to tragedy if it weren't for one man's brave actions.
The Hampden Sydney community woke up with text alerts that the Tiger Athletic club was on fire.
"Oh my God, when I got that I knew it was bad and I freaked out," said Michael Goad, a Hampden Sydney student.
"I got a call at 4 a.m. from my wife saying something bad has happened," said Ron Austin, whose son lived in TAC.
Austin's son, Seth, lives in the TAC. Austin promptly called him to see if he was okay.
"He said, 'everybody's out, everybody's good,'" said Austin.
But according to his son that almost wasn't the case. Austin and his friends said someone smelled smoke and started waking everyone up.
When they thought everyone was out of the house, they did a head count and only found eight people.
"There's one fellow who wasn't there and they knew nine were in the house," said Austin.
According to Austin's son, one of the young men ran back into the house to find him.
"He had to crawl on the floor, so his stomach is not burned but his back and feet are because he was on the ground. I think the bottom of his feet are the worst, and his hands," he said.
The school hasn't released any names. But according to Austin, the man who pulled his friend out of the fire ended up with the worst injuries.
"It could be a whole lot worse, so I'm just thankful that everyone is still here," said Michael Goad, a student.
Austin says the school bought the young men new clothes and took them somewhere to take a shower.
The boys are now living in a former fraternity house on campus, and the cause of the fire is still under investigation.
TAC House After Fire
