Fire burns portion of warehouse near Oak Grove
Oak Grove, SC (Paul Kirby) – A portion of a warehouse burned Tuesday night around 11:00 p.m. in the 300 block of Sycamore Tree Road bringing firefighters and equipment from several Lexington County fire stations to fight the blaze. The fire was first thought to be off St. David’s Church Road but was eventually located on Sycamore Tree. This road later intersects with St David’s Church Road. Sycamore Tree runs parallel to Augusta Road and is best known for being the road where the large Willow Ridge Church is located and can easily be seen from the highway. When the first fire service units arrived, they reported that there was smoke and flames coming from the building. It appeared to have some metal construction and siding and another part that was wood frame construction.
The fire commanders quickly asked for the appropriate utility company to respond because there was a powerline down that needed to be disconnected. This had to be done quickly to make the area safe for the firefighters to work. Some on the scene speculated that the fire may have started after a tree fell across the line pulling it down and creating an electrical arch. There was a portion of the tree across the line making this explanation for the fire’s cause plausible.
One of the county’s aerial devices, a tall ladder mounted to a fire truck and raised, lowered, or rotated by hydraulics, was used during the firefighter’s efforts to contain the fire. These can actually spray water from the tip, reach up vertically or out horizontally, and raise high intensity lights up over the scene to light the fireground for those involved in putting the fire out.
By the time the fire was extinguished, all the hot spots were found, and the firefighters had saved what they could in the building, they had been on the scene several hours. They were assisted by Lexington County EMS who was there for standby in case anyone was injured. As of Wednesday morning, there were no injuries reported by the county. They had also not released the estimated loss to the building or if the powerline or something else was what started the fire.
