From staff reports
Early Wednesday afternoon, May 22, the Burton and Sheldon Fire districts, along with MCAS Fire and Emergency Services and Beaufort County EMS, responded to a reported house fire on Seabrook Road in Seabrook, displacing one adult.
Emergency crews were dispatched to a reported house fire after the homeowner, who was cutting his grass, saw flames coming from the side of his home. Firefighters arrived on scene and brought the fire under control within 10 minutes; however, the home suffered heavy damages and the adult occupant was displaced. He was able to stay with family living nearby and Red Cross was not needed.
Burton fire officials state that this fire could have been extremely difficult due to the age of the home, which records show was built in 1910, and the lack of fire hydrants in the area.
“An old home often means very dry wood, plus any remodeling and repairs over the years can leave voids for hidden fires to smolder and spread, and couple that with the lack of fire hydrants and water in the area, and this could have been a very large and dangerous fire,” Assistant Fire Chief Steve Kenyon, who led the fire investigation, said in a news release. “Early notification and quick response are what really saved the day.”
Due to the lack of hydrants in that area, the Burton Fire District entered into agreements with neighboring fire departments and created a Water Shuttling Plan, where additional fire trucks and water tankers from the Sheldon Fire District, MCAS Fire Department, and Jasper County Fire and Rescue will respond and establish a water supply system from one of the three Whale Branch schools in the area, who have hydrants on site, and deliver that water to the fire scene to create a continuous flow of water for fire crews to use.
No injuries were reported. The fire remains under investigation but appears to have been caused by an electrical malfunction.
