Irmo Fire District fights attached garage fire Saturday near the Lower Saluda River

Irmo, SC (Paul Kirby) – A home was damaged when its attached garage caught fire and burned just after 1:00 p.m. Saturday afternoon. This fire was in the 200 block of Century Drive between Bush River Road and the Saluda River in the Irmo area of Lexington County. Multiple fire services responded to assist including the Lexington County Fire Service and the City of Columbia Fire Department. Thick black smoke could be seen from as far away as the site of the Drift Jam – Flotilla music festival being held at Spence Island on Lake Murray before firefighters arrived and put the fire out.

When the first crews from Irmo pulled up, they reported heavy fire and smoke was coming out of the home’s garage. They quickly pulled several fire hoses from their truck and began fighting the fire. Within a very short time, they had the blaze under control. A battalion chief for the Irmo Fire District did say that the home itself was affected by the fire, but the heaviest damage was to the garage which was destroyed.

No one knew that this fire was the warmup round to another one close to the Lower Saluda River in West Columbia which was reported just a short while later. That fire, at the Riverbank Retreat Apartments, would require the cooperation of the West Columbia FD, the Irmo Fire District, the Cayce Department of Public Safety, the City of Columbia FD, and Lexington County to bring under control.