Sun City residents escape fire that leaves home a “complete loss,” kills family dog
Two residents were able to escape out of a patio door after a fire of unknown origin swept through a south side of Sun City home, causing a “complete loss” of the house and killing the family’s dog.
It took about 20 minutes for multiple fire department units to gain control of the fire at 28 Pineapple Drive, according to Stephen Combs, the public information officer for Bluffton Township Fire District.
The couple living in the home were taken to a hospital for smoke-related injuries. The extent of their injuries are unknown, but a friend of the residents on Monday, Rita Cymbalista, said that the homeowner continued to receive care at the Burn Center at Doctors Hospital in Augusta. His girlfriend was released from the hospital on Monday around noon, Cymbalista said.
When Cymbalista drove by the home Sunday morning, the front door of the home was propped open.
“All you could see was black,” she said, referencing the home’s interior.
The blaze broke just before 7 p.m. on Saturday evening. The first truck arrived on the scene six and half minutes later. Five engines, one rescue truck, one ladder track and a rescue squad, along with Beaufort County EMS and the Sheriff’s office responded to the home that evening, Combs said. The last unit left the scene around 8:50 p.m., but the fire district conducted hourly checks throughout the night on the home to ensure there were no remaining hot spots.
The cause of the fire was still under investigation by the Fire Marshal’s Office as of Monday around 11:00 a.m., according to Combs.
Stephen Ratzell, a Sun City resident who lives just a few houses down from the affected house, said that the home was still standing Monday, despite the damage to the interior. Ratzell was inside of his home during the fire, but he said that he was able to smell the smoke. He heard from other neighbors that they saw flames, “shooting out of the garage.” The siding on the home right next door to the burning house had been scorched by the blaze, he said. Ratzell said that the affected residents are relatively new to the neighborhood, moving in about a year ago.
This story was originally published August 19, 2024 at 3:18 PM.
