CLEMSON, S.C. --
A fire Thursday morning destroyed a Clemson University fraternity house and the cause is still unkown.
Dispatchers said the fire call came in at 7:18 a.m. about a fire at 113 Calhoun Street, the Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity house, off College Avenue or Highway 133 and Highway 123.
There were three fraternity brothers sleeping in the century old house at the time of the fire, according to Clemson Fire Chief William Daniel.
Daniel said, "One of them was in an upstair bedroom. If the smoke detector hadn't alerted them early to get out it could have been tragic, the smoke detectors did their job."
Officials report the fire started in the back part of the house where the kitchen is located. A total of six members are staying in the house during the summer, but three were away at work.
Chapter President Casey Johnson left his job when he heard about the fire.
"I just wanted to make sure everybody was ok and everybody got out. That was my primary concern," said Johnson.
Johnson also stated that his fraternity takes fire safety seriously.
"Randomly we have a fire drill with somebody running around the house someone saying theres a fire, fire everybody get out. And we check the batteries on our smoke alarms every semester, replace them and make sure they are all functioning properly."
Three others were asleep inside the house when the fire started. Fire officials said the sleeping students they were awakened by smoke detectors.
News 4 talked with the Vice President of Public Relations for the Intra-fraternity Council at Clemson University Andy Bajoczky. He said one of the brothers went to investigate and found fire in one of the back rooms. When the ceiling of that back room caved in, he ran to the front of the house, woke up the other brothers, Bajoczky said.
The Clemson fire chief said the fire appears to have started in a kitchen in an addition on the back of the house. The chief said investigators will be out at the scene all day trying to figure out what caused the fire.
Alpha Gamma Rho is a Social/Professional Fraternity founded for men preparing for careers in Agriculture and Life Sciences.
Before 10 a.m., Clemson officials said that Highway 133 was reopened to traffic.
The Pickens County Red Cross is working with students displaced from the fire. The agency will continue to work with the students to find permanent housing arrangements and other needs that might arise.
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