Seven students escaped a fire at 505 Louisville Street around 2:30 a.m. Wednesday morning, when one of the residents heard the smoke detector alarm.
Jordan Alexander, David Coody, Seth Goellner, Winston Kimmel, Will Parfitt, Ben Shudak, Caleb Thompson and Cody Wescott all lived in the house.  Many of them lost clothes, furniture, beds and electronics. Almost all of the rooms received smoke and water damage, and the house will be torn down and completely rebuilt.
According to Starkville Fire Marshall Mark McCurdy, when the fire department arrived, the back of the house was engulfed in flames.
“If he (the student) had not woke up and gone out to check, many of them would not be alive.”
David Coody, senior communication major, said he was the first to wake up.  
According to Coody, he woke up to a faint beeping noise, but was unsure what it was.  He said once he got out of bed, he realized it was the smoke alarm in his room.  The moment he opened his door to check the house, he said he was immediately hit by smoke and saw the outside was bright with flames.  Then, he said he proceeded to wake up the rest of the men in the house.  He said he ran throughout the house yelling “Get out…The house is on fire,” saving the lives of his other roommates who were all asleep.  
The students said they attempted to put the fire out, but soon realized it was too big to control. They instead waited for the fire department to arrive.
Will Parfitt, senior communications major, said he woke to Coody banging on the door.
“I saw a ton of smoke and flames reaching the roof and I knew it was time to get out.”
Ben Shudak, senior mechanical engineering major, said he lost everything in his bedroom.
  According to Shudak, nothing was recoverable or recognizable, and his room was the first to catch fire. Shudak said the Fire Marshall told him if he had been in his room for five more minutes, he would have been trapped and most likely killed.  
Even with his huge loss, Shudak said he has not lost everything.  
“I don’t know if anyone lost everything,” he said. “The reason I say no one lost everything is because for one, we’re alive.  Two, everyone still has their phone and wallet and a couple other key things for the most part. It is really a miracle.  I praise God for allowing us to escape unharmed.  If Coody had not woken me up or even if it had taken him a little while longer, I would not be here. I owe my life to him.”  
The cause of the fire is still currently unknown according to Parfitt.
“They have not told us the cause of the fire yet.  All we know is that it may have been an electrical problem,” Parfitt said.
All of the students have found new housing.  The students have received numerous donations, received help from MSU, the Red Cross and their families.  
Winston Kimmel, senior chemical engineering major, said the community of Starkville has reached out to help him and the other students involved in the fire.
“My phone died three different times yesterday from all the texts I got from people offering help,” Kimmel said.  “I can’t count the number of times ‘I’ll help you with anything you need’ was said to me.  Even people I’ve only met once who did not even have my phone number reached out to me yesterday offering help.  That’s what I love most about this school, the people.  My professors were also super understanding and helpful.  One of my professors offered me some of his sons old clothes and another one pushed the due date for a paper back indefinitely and told me to just turn it in whenever I can.  It was overwhelming in the best way possible.”
Fire Marshall McCurdy said MSU does a nice job of maintaining buildings in terms of fire alarms and carbon monoxide, but encourages students who live off campus to exercise caution, and participate in routine smoke detector checks.
“This story was a success because no one was hurt,” McCurdy said.

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Jacob Follin, The Reflector

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