Firefight to continue for ‘many days’ at downtown Savannah construction site, officials say

It’s been about 24 hours since a massive fire broke out in downtown Savannah — and crews are still on scene fighting hot spots and flare-ups.

Savannah Fire Chief Derik Minard says it’s going to take “many days” to fully extinguish the fire that started Thursday afternoon at the Eastern Wharf construction site.

Seven units were still on scene Friday morning, the chief said during a late-morning news conference.

“At this point, they’re going to continue to put out the hot spots, put out the fires that are flaring up and really babysitting the fire,” Minard said. “The building collapsed into itself, and so it makes it difficult to get it fully extinguished.”

“The fire itself is contained,” he said. “It’s not going to go anywhere. It’s not going to cause any more damage.”

All roads are back open, but crews have a perimeter around the construction site area. Minard said the fire should not “hamper day-to-day activities” in the area.

An investigation into the cause of the fire is ongoing, officials said, but they believe it started on the upper floors. Investigators said they’re “in a waiting game” for the building to be safe enough for them to get inside and determine the cause.

The fire was reported at 12:17 p.m. on Thursday, Minard said. The first unit arrived on scene within 3 minutes.

About 100 firefighters and staff joined the firefight, he said. Crews from Chatham County Fire and EMS, Garden City and Pooler all joined the Savannah Fire Department as the fire grew.

Marine 1 — the department’s fire boat on the Savannah River — supplied water to the fire trucks on the east side of the building from about 1 p.m., “well into the night,” Minard said.

“It was flowing 7,000 gallons a minute of water to all of the fire apparatus,” he said. “So the fire boat really helped us.”

The chief said there were no issues with the water supply — thanks both to the fire boat and surrounding hydrants. The city’s water department also increased water pressure to the area to help boost the water supply.

Crews were put on a rotation throughout the night, Minard said, and each firefighter took mandatory breaks at a “rehab center” after they went through two air bottles. This area was set up with chairs where firefighters could sit and take their gear off, and it was supplied with food, water and Gatorade.

The firefighters’ vitals were checked and recorded after each break before they were allowed to return to the line, he said.

“When someone’s gone through the rehab process twice, (we) try to remove them from the fire line,” he said. “But last night, firefighters were going through three, four times.”

Despite all of the resources, the fire grew rapidly due to high wind gusts in the area, Minard said.

“The winds out of the west to the east were significant,” he said. “Anytime we deal with a wind-driven fire, it makes it difficult because it pushes the fire through the building very quickly.”

Minard said the department also couldn’t use its drone to fight the fire due to the high winds. However, Chatham County Emergency Management showed up with its helicopter — and stayed all night — to help crews detect hot spots and direct their hose lines.

Preliminary numbers suggest around 200-300 construction workers were on site when the fire started, officials said. No injuries have been reported.

A crane caused some concerns during the firefight, and Minard said crews still aren’t sure if the crane is structurally sound. An engineer was supposed to check out the crane Friday and determine the best way to remove it.

Minard said guests in the neighboring Marriott Hotel were never in any danger.

This story was originally published February 28, 2020 at 1:07 PM.