Chapin, SC (Paul Kirby) – Firefighters from across Dutch Fork showed they are all willing to help when a house caught fire off Island Trail early Sunday evening. The fire was dispatched around 6:00 p.m. on the long, one way in, one way out road off Wessinger out of Hilton. This is in Lexington County but close to the Richland County line.
Lexington County’s three area stations responded as did some equipment from the Lexington area. Battalion #1 out of Lexington is the area’s supervisor and he responded per protocol. While enroute, the Irmo Fire District offered their assistance and their battalion chief responded along with a fire truck and manpower. The surrounding counties were requested for their assistance as well.
Fire service crews from Crossroads first arrived, pulled several handlines, and once they had sufficient manpower on the scene, they began fighting the fire. The interior crews quickly knocked the fire down and in short order, it was marked under control. The Chapin station was covered by a truck that was moved there for that purpose.
This was the second time in a week that interagency cooperation has been key to fighting fire near Hilton. Late last week, both Richland and Newberry counties loaned resources to fight a barn fire off Cannon Trail. There were also Irmo Fire District crews on that scene and on standby in Chapin. That cooperation is key to fire protection in the region where the Chapin portion of Lexington County is isolated by Lake Murray from the rest of the county.
Lexington County representatives have not released the cause of the fire or the extent of the damage.