Within hours, Hilton Head family faces house fire and car crash at local business
Community members are rallying around a Hilton Head Island family whose home and local business were heavily damaged within hours of each other.
About eight hours after a vehicle smashed into the front of Blake and Maddie Wearren’s vegetarian restaurant delisheeyo, their home suffered “very extensive damage” in a house fire.
First responders arrived around 2:15 a.m. Sunday to delisheeyo, located off Palmetto Bay Road on south-end Hilton Head, finding damage to the front wall, door frame and porch area.
The driver of the vehicle — a 20-year-old man from Beaufort — had fled the area, but he was arrested several hours later, according to police.
As of Monday morning, the suspect faced charges of driving under the influence and unlawful use of license. Charges related to the property damage were pending as the case remained active, according to Master Sgt. Robert Herlong of the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.
While the Wearrens were surveying damage at the restaurant around 10:45 a.m., a fire broke out at their long-term rental property on Marshland Road. A bicyclist in the area noticed the rising smoke and informed a sheriff’s deputy, who dispatched Hilton Head Island Fire Rescue.
Firefighters arrived within five minutes and battled heavy flames on the second floor, which sits over a parking area on the ground level. The blaze was controlled around 11:45 a.m. and the fire was completely out by 1:30 p.m., according to department spokesperson Joheida Fister, but crews stayed on the scene for several more hours to conduct fire watch.
No one was home when the fire began, according to Fister. A “good samaritan” rescued the Wearren’s cat and two dogs from the back porch, the family said.
“God is good and spared us today,” Blake Wearren wrote on social media, adding that his family had a place to stay “thanks to friends at Vacation Company.”
Fister said the Wearren’s home “will be a total loss,” adding that the third floor was just as heavily damaged as the second.
Hilton Head’s Jiva Yoga Center shared a post encouraging community members to donate to the Wearrens, who welcomed a baby into their family about six months ago.
“So many of us are nourished—body and soul—by the food and care they offer our community,” the post reads. “Right now, they could use that same love in return.”
Sunday morning’s vehicle crash and house fire remain under investigation by BCSO and HHIFR, respectively.
Delisheeyo would be closed on Monday while the restaurant’s structural damage is repaired, according to a social media post. The owners hope to reopen on Tuesday.
The American Red Cross was also assisting the Wearrens with financial assistance for immediate needs like food, clothing and shelter, according to a press release.
This story was originally published December 22, 2025 at 11:21 AM.
