Springdale, SC 03/06/2023 (Paul Kirby) – A car caught fire and burned while parked underneath the canopy at the entrance to the Red Roof Inn on Airport Boulevard in Springdale late Saturday night. This is the first motel on the right after exiting I-26 east at the bottom of the off ramp.
The fire was reported just before 11:00 p.m. and was first dispatched as a structure fire. Before firefighters from Lexington County, and the cities of West Columbia and Cayce Fire Departments arrived on scene, the fire had grown to the point that it was damaging the overhead canopy and the exterior of the office portion of the building. The fire had spread to all but the rear quarter of the car gutting it from its front bumper to the trunk lid.
The amount of smoke and fire drew law enforcement officers from a number of different agencies who were either dispatched to the fire or simply saw it and pulled in to see if they could be of assistance. A Lexington Ledger reporter on the scene confirmed that he saw units from the SC Highway Patrol, Springdale PD, the agency that had jurisdiction over the property, the Swansea Police Department, and cruisers from both the City of West Columbia PD and the City of Cayce’s Police Departments. The officers were able to keep bystanders out of the way and help evacuate some of the rooms closest to the burning car but couldn’t do much with the fire itself because of its intensity by the time they arrived.
When firefighters arrived, the quickly extinguished the blaze and checked for extension into the building. There were no serious injuries reported even though some of the material from the underside of the canopy had begun to fall around the burning vehicle. The car itself was a total loss and the canopy was heavily damaged above where the car was parked.
PHOTO CAPTION: Smoke and steam bellowed from underneath the overhead canopy as firefighters attacked the blaze.
PHOTO CAPTION: The car was destroyed and some of the exterior of the building was discolored by the fire. Some of the rooms in this area of the motel were evacuated by law enforcement as a safety measure until the fire was totally extinguished.
