Just after 6:30 pm January 15, the Lady’s Island St. Helena Fire District was called to the report of a house fire in the Cee Cee Road neighborhood of St. Helena. Callers stated that their neighbor’s home was on fire with flames visible high above the roof. First arriving units were on scene in a matter of minutes and found that the house was completely enveloped by fire. Personnel quickly learned that the occupants were not at home at the time and there was no life safety hazard to be dealt with. Teams of firefighters entered the structure but were soon pushed out by heavy fire as the roof collapsed in. Firefighters fought for nearly an hour to bring the fire under control as wind driven flames and the previous collapse made their work that much harder.
“The home was set back off the road in a rural neighborhood and likely burned for some time before the attentive neighbor noticed anything out of the ordinary” stated Lee Levesque, fire department spokesman. In the end the home was unfortunately a complete loss but no injuries were reported. The cause of the fire is officially undetermined as the residence was so badly damaged that little was left to lead investigators to the specific cause. The fire solicited a response of 20 firefighters, paramedics from Beaufort County EMS, and officers from the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office. The family is now being assisted by the Palmetto Chapter of the Red Cross as they work to recover from this event.
