By Delayna Earley
The Island News
Burton Fire District, Beaufort/Port Royal Fire Department, Beaufort County Emergency Medical Services and the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office responded to a fire in a homeless encampment off Parris Island Gateway on Tuesday, April 30, in Beaufort.
Just past 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, emergency crews responded to a report of a brush fire in the area of Glaze Drive, but after further information from the 911 caller stated that the fire was in a wooded area off of Parris Island Gateway by Cross Creek Shopping Plaza.
The firefighters who arrived on scene found what appeared to be a “homeless encampment” and an injured male and female.
The fire was quickly extinguished, and both burn victims were transported from the scene by Beaufort County EMS.
The 37-year-old male and 43-year-old female suffered potentially serious burns in the fire, according to a release from the Burton Fire District.
According to Maj. Angela Viens, a spokesperson for the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office, the female was transferred to Medical University of South Carolina [MUSC] via air from Beaufort Memorial Hospital and the male was transferred to MUSC via ground.
The woman burned herself walking through the opening of the tent as it was on fire, according to Viens.
Viens said that the same tent had a fire in the past few months and an investigation showed that the previous fire was caused by a heating device that was in the tent.
Burton Fire District has been monitoring abandoned structures and such encampments since the end of 2023 after recognizing an uptick in fires in these areas.
“We have a community risk reduction program, so we monitor the data to make sure that there is no danger to people and to try and educate on proper ways to prevent such fires,” Burton Fire District Assistant Fire Chief Daniel Byrne said.
He was able to confirm that the Burton Fire District has responded to four fires since the end of last year that were caused in such an instance.
The fire is currently under investigation, although it has been determined that there were no accelerates present at the scene.
Delayna Earley, who joined The Island News in 2022, formerly worked as a photojournalist for The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette, as well as newspapers in Indiana and Virginia. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.
