Neighbor saw origins of deadly Fripp Island fire in garage. Was golf cart involved?

A deadly Fripp Island fire that claimed a man and his dog’s life over the weekend appears to one neighbor to have started in the garage near a golf cart, based on a report of the incident by the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.

The report offers new details on the deadly fire’s origin that were not previously shared by authorities and is based on an eyewitness account of a neighbor interviewed by a deputy. The house fire at 718 Bonito Drive was reported at 10:13 a.m. Saturday at the island community and vacation retreat located 18 miles east of Beaufort. The house and two other unoccupied homes next door also were destroyed.

The name of a 59-year-old man that the Sheriff’s Office previously said died in the fire at 718 Bonito Drive still had not been released as of Tuesday.

The Beaufort County Coroner’s Office is using DNA to confirm the man’s identify, which could take a few weeks, Chief Deputy Coroner Shane Bowers said.

The official cause of the fire remains under investigation. An Arson Unit with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division has been asked to assist with the investigation.

But the Sheriff’s Office report, made public Tuesday, indicates the fire may have started near a golf cart parked in the garage at 718 Bonito Drive, before spreading to the floors above it and neighboring houses on each side.

John Poore, who lives across the street, told authorities that he observed the fire in the garage at 718 Bonito Drive after he came outside to walk his dog. The garage is on the ground level with the two-story house located directly above it.

“Inside the garage, John said he saw a golf cart, completely engulfed in flames, and the flames were already burning into the ceiling which was beneath the main floor of the house,” the report says.

The report does not say the golf cart caused the fire.

Flames from the fire destroyed the 718 Bonito Drive residence and houses on each side of it with the addresses of 716 and 720 Bonito Drive.

When he first saw the fire, the report says, Poore ran around to the back to his own house and called to his daughter to call 9-1-1, then returned to front. But the fire at 718 Bonito Drive, which already had made its way into the first floor, was spreading so fast it was unsafe for him to go inside to see if his neighbor was there.

“Therefore, he went down the block on both sides of the house and let other residents know that 718 Bonito was on fire, and it was beginning to spread to other homes,” the report says of Poore.

Marianne Shaver, whose family lost one house in the fire, said on Facebook that the 718 Bonnito Drive property was consumed by fire in six minutes.

Later, an owner of the 718 Bonito Drive house told deputies that her husband was missing along with one of the family dogs. The GPS location on her phone placed her husband inside the house, the report says. Deputies requested a “ping” of the phone number at 11:17 a.m. At 11:31 a.m., deputies were notified that the phone had no signal and was unable to be pinged.

Poore confirmed later that the owners of the houses at 716 and 720 were not inside during the fire, the report says.

On Monday, yellow police tape surrounded the three destroyed houses that front Bonito Drive. Two additional houses on each side of those three structures also were damaged. The backyards of the houses abut a golf course. According to reports, neighbors reported hearing one and possibly two explosions heard during the fire, leading to speculation that they came from a propane tank or an automobile.

This story was originally published August 20, 2025 at 2:40 PM.