'Popping' noises from a Port Royal house fire woke up the people inside, firefighters say

Popping sounds from an early morning fire woke up people inside a Port Royal home on Monday, allowing them to escape the flames, according to a Beaufort-Port Royal Fire Department news release.

No injuries were reported in the Cedar Creek Circle home in the Shadow Moss subdivision, Fire Chief Reece Bertholf said Monday morning.

Flames were coming from the right side of the home and were spreading toward the attic, according to the release. The residents were already outside when firefighters arrived and five cats were rescued safely from the house.

“We didn’t have much time to waste,” Lt. Joshua Doud said. “The fire was rapidly consuming the siding, sheeting, and structural wood on the side of the home and was obviously impinging on the attic. It wouldn’t have been long, and we would have lost the roof and likely the whole home.”

Part of the attic and the roof had begun to catch fire and firefighters worked from inside and outside the house to douse the flames. The popping noises were believed to be burning wires from the electric meter.

“Modern, lightweight construction, does not stand up to fire conditions very well," Fire Marshall Capt. Tim Ogden said. "Vinyl siding burns quickly and once the wood sheeting catches it goes fast. We are lucky in this case to catch it before it got to the attic. The trusses in the attic only give us minutes to try and get the fire out before they start to fail, and the roof will collapse.”

The fire started outside the house, near a garbage can cart, according to the release. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

In April 2017, a home in the same community caught fire in a blaze that started in a trash can stored close to the side of the house. The fire crawled up the siding of a Whitewater Way home and a pair of citizens fought the fire with a garden hose until firefighters arrived.

Fire officials urge residents to keep their garbage cans a safe distance from the side of a building.

The Burton Fire District responded to help fight the fire. Beaufort County EMS and Port Royal Police Department also came to the scene.

This story was originally published May 21, 2018 at 12:07 PM with the headline "'Popping' noises from a Port Royal house fire woke up the people inside, firefighters say."