Just after midnight on Monday, Sept. 26, morning, the Lady’s Island-St. Helena Fire District was dispatched to the report of a structure fire in the Seaside Road area of Sea Island Parkway. Once there, first in units were met by the owners who reported having just returned home after being gone all afternoon and finding a smoldering pile of ruins where just earlier in the day their home had stood.
Firefighters spent the better part of the next four hours tending to the family and picking through the rubble looking for anything that could be salvaged but little was found.
The family of three spent the rest of the night with family nearby and fire personnel coordinated with the Palmetto Chapter of the Red Cross to further assist the family in the days to come. The fire completely destroyed the home without notice until their arrival and while the human occupants were spared injury, the family lost a pet in the fire.
Almost immediately upon arrival, fire personnel requested the Northern Beaufort County Fire Scene Investigation Team in an effort to determine the cause of the fire. In the time frame that the family was gone, there were a few thunderstorm cells that had moved through the area and the team is leaning toward a lightning strike as a potential cause, but no official determination can be made as of yet.
For more information, please contact Lee Levesque, PAO for the Lady’s Island St. Helena Fire District at 843-252-3431.