Red Bank, SC (Paul Kirby) – A fire destroyed a mobile home in the 200 block of Clermont Lakes Drive near Bluefield Road Thursday afternoon. The fire was first reported by someone in the home at approximately 1 p.m.
911 communicators reported to responding firefighters that the caller said first that the deck of the home was on fire. They relayed to the responders that they could hear fire alarms going off in the home while they were on the line with the caller.
First arriving fire units reported that heavy fire and smoke was coming from the home. They dropped a supply line up the long driveway on their way in so that the second due pumper could feed them with more water as they began their fire attack.
Because there are no fire hydrants in the area to supply a fire fight, tanker trucks came into play. The second in pumper drew water from a drop tank that then pumped that water up to the truck that had its attack lines in use by the firefighters battling the flames. The tankers circled from a hydrant some distance away, and then back into the fire before dropping their water and making the circuit again.
Eventually, firefighters from Boiling Springs, Red Bank, Sharpe’s Hill, Edmund, South Congaree, Lexington, Gilbert, Gaston, Round Hill, Pelion, and several other county fire stations were on the scene assisting in the fire fight. Trucks from Mack Edisto, Sandy Run, Hollow Creek, and several other outlying stations were moved in to empty stations to cover for the committed resources. An EMS crew also assisted in checking the health and well-being of the firefighters who had already been on the attack before they were cleared to go back in and fight again.
Although it took about an hour to bring the fire under control, firefighters remained on the scene for several more hours mopping up the debris left by the fire and picking up their equipment. The property was eventually turned back over to the residents as the final fire resources left the scene.
According to Harrison Cahill, spokesman for Lexington County, two adults and two children were displaced from the home as a result of the fire. They have deemed the home a total loss.
There were no injuries reported as a result of the fire. The cause of the fire and an estimation of the monetary damages to the home have not been released.
