Gaston, SC (Paul Kirby) – While most were enjoying a peaceful Christmas Eve, Lexington County firefighters braved the perils of a burning home and a live powerline arcing on the ground to save a man trapped by fire. The blaze, reported about 7:15 p.m. on Tuesday, December 24, 2019, was in an area close to the town of Gaston and the SC State Farmer’s Market. It brought trucks and manpower from the fire service as well as crews from Lexington County’s EMS rushing to Gardners Terrace Road in southeast Lexington County.
Callers had reported there was someone trapped in the home before the first trucks arrived. When firefighters came off their equipment, they immediately went into a rescue mode. They entered the burning home and aggressively began searching the area where people on the scene said the trapped man could be located. In a short amount of time, the team located the unresponsive man and began to drag him to safety. Moments later, they had the victim outside and began efforts to resuscitate him. Meanwhile, their supervisor reported that a live powerline was on the ground providing a life-threatening hazard to the firefighters. An EMS crew was called to the rear of the home where they joined in the life saving efforts.
Other crews on fire attack quickly brought the fire under control, but it had already significantly damaged the home. As of 8:00 p.m. Tuesday, the teams were still working to ensure that the fire was completely out. Law enforcement officers joined the effort to help by assisting with traffic as tanker trucks traveled back and forth from a water source to the burning home.
The condition of the victim appeared to be grave as rescuers were performing CPR on the scene after he was removed from the burning structure. Lexington County’s EMS had an ambulance crew on scene and an experienced supervisor that joined the efforts to save the victim's life.
The exact condition of the man is unknown at this point. We will try and update this story as more information becomes available.
