Home heavily damaged by fire on Jereme Bay Road in South Congaree early Thursday

South Congaree, SC (Paul Kirby) – A house was heavily damaged by fire at 153 Jereme Bay Road in South Congaree early Thursday morning. The fire in the Congaree Downs neighborhood was reported around 1:30 a.m. The first fire service resources were on the scene in minutes.

The first crew to arrive reported heavy smoke and flames coming from the single-family home. There is a fire hydrant within a few hundred feet that provided water the teams needed to attack the blaze. A supply hose was connected to that as firefighters gathered and made entry into the home. More trucks and personnel arrived from stations out of Red Bank, Edmund, Pine Grove, Oak Grove, and others further away. Several crews and trucks were also moved into empty stations to make sure no area of the county was without fire protection. Both region’s battalion chiefs were on the fire scene coordinating the attack and ensuring the safety of the crews. The on-call duty officer was notified and was monitoring in case another emergency arose. Lexington County EMS also responded with an ambulance and its personnel to assist in monitoring firefighters who were attacking the fire. That EMS crew was checking them thoroughly before they could return to the interior teams.

The fire was brought under control in a relatively short amount of time. Once under control, the firefighters began salvaging what they could, checking for hidden fire, and removing smoke and other dangerous products of combustion. The fire wasn’t declared out until about 4:00 a.m.

A county fire marshal responded to assist with determining the cause and origin of the fire. Lexington County hasn’t released that, how much the loss was in terms of dollars, or if anyone was injured as a result of the blaze.