Mobile home fire in Red Bank draws a crowd, firefighters find it fully involved when they arrive

Red Bank, SC (Paul Kirby) – A column of thick black smoke in the sky drew the attention of multiple motorists Saturday afternoon in Red Bank. The origin of the smoke was a mobile home in the 100 block of Wilma Anne Drive fully involved in flames when the first firetruck and personnel arrived from the county’s Red Bank fire station.

Multiple callers had dialed 911 to report the blaze before the first fire service resources arrived. Firefighters also saw the black column of smoke in the sky before pulling up. Once the first truck arrived at the fire, firefighters began putting water on the blaze from outside. At that point, the people in vehicles that were looking and searching for the source of the smoke, began to get in the way. Wilma Anne Drive is a narrow, one-lane dirt road and the multiple cars plus the fire trucks trying to get to the scene were creating a major tie-up. Fire service commanders had to call for deputies from the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department to deal with the traffic. In a short time, the fire service was able to get enough trucks, personnel, and water on the scene to quickly bring the single-wide mobile home burning from end-to-end under control.

Several of the callers told dispatchers they believed that the home was abandoned before the fire. It was in an area that contains several older mobile home parks and a long row of older single-wide trailers facing the road. The fire service hasn’t said if the home was in fact inhabited. The cause of the fire is under investigation. The house was deemed a total loss. A truck from Red Bank returned to the scene later in the evening to ensure that the fire was completely out. They were only on the scene a short while before returning to their quarters.