UNC student Kathryn Rathbun surveys the damage in her bedroom, the only room in a Church Street house that wasn’t completely consumed by fire Monday afternoon.
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CHAPEL HILL -- On Tuesday morning, UNC students Sheina Taub and Kathryn Rathbun spent the morning picking through the black, charred mess they once called home.
On Monday afternoon, the home they and two housemates rented at 506 Church St. burnt up, and the two 20-year-old women were trying to save what they could before it started raining.
Although one of their housemates was at home when the fire started on the front porch, it went unnoticed until about 3 p.m. when he discovered flames at the front of the house and called 911.
Although a fire station is located just a few blocks away, the blaze already had climbed up into the attic area, and the first firefighters who arrived saw heavy fire in the attic area.
As firefighters battled the fire, the roof collapsed into the house, causing the flames to rush throughout the rest of the rooms.
About 25 firefighters spent 20 minutes bringing the fire under control, but by then the house had been destroyed. The fire melted the hoods and grills of vehicles parked in front of the house, the plastic hanging down in long strands that looped to the ground.
As Taub and Rathbun walked through the house, overwhelmed by the task of trying to find anything to salvage, they noticed in sad amazement what did and didn't burn.
A paper that Taub tacked on her bedroom wall with reasons not to smoke was still there, but the writing had been burned off.
"It will burn your house down," she said as she touched the outline of the paper on her wall.
The Chapel Hill Fire Department has ruled the fire accidental but did not give a cause. The department estimated damage at $100,000.
With nearly everything in her bedroom destroyed, Taub held up a painted canvas, mentioning the irony that she used fire and smoke to create the look she wanted on the painting, and now it appeared fire and smoke had ruined it.
Both Taub and Rathbun loved photography, and lost most of their cameras in the fire. Rathbun borrowed a camera to take pictures of the damage on Monday.
"We don't have renter's insurance, but it might be covered by our parents' homeowner's insurance," Rathbun said.
The roommates are staying with friends at St. Anthony Hall until they can find another place to live.
