Beaufort County Detention Center fire investigated

A Saturday night fire at Beaufort County Detention Center in being investigated.

The fire was inside a holding cell in the jail’s pre-classification area, according to a Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office report. The fire was extinguished by the time a deputy arrived but there was still “light smoke” in the air as Beaufort-Port Royal Fire Department investigated, according to the report. No injuries were reported.

The fire was determined to be a case of arson according to Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Bob Bromage, who also said that the fire caused no structural damage but could offer no further details.

A corrections officer at the detention center identified to a Sheriff’s Office deputy three teenaged inmates who were suspects in connection with the fire, according to the report. They all declined to speak with the deputy. None of the three inmates had been charged with a related offense by Sunday afternoon, according to online detention center and Beaufort County court records, and Bromage confirmed that no charges have yet been filed.

On Sunday afternoon, Fire Chief Reece Bertholf said he could not offer specifics “due to the secure nature of detention center operations,” but said the fire was minor and that “all emergency procedures in place to ensure inmate safety and public safety worked flawlessly, as it is supposed to.”

This story was originally published August 6, 2017 at 4:27 PM with the headline "Beaufort County Detention Center fire investigated."