Sharpe’s Hill, SC (Paul Kirby) – A structure fire in the 1600 block of SC Hwy 6 in the Sharpe’s Hill community forced the fire service to close the highway early Sunday morning. The fire occurred between 4:45 and 5:00 a.m. It was later reopened.
The first due truck and manpower was out of the Lexington County’s Sharpe’s Hill station. That station is located right on Hwy. 6 between Edmund and Swansea. That truck's men reported that a doublewide mobile home was on fire with approximately half of it burning. That crew did a quick size-up, pulled the hoses from their truck, and by then additional firefighters and the first fire officer, a captain from Swansea, had arrived. The combined team joined in to attack the fire.
Both county battalion chiefs were enroute, so the on-duty call chief was notified. He began monitoring the county’s dispatch to be prepared if another fire or emergency occurred somewhere else in the county. When the first battalion pulled up, command of the fire ground was transferred to him.
A Lexington County EMS unit was on scene for the safety of the crews. Law enforcement assisted by helping block Hwy. 6 where most of the fire equipment was parked. This was done for the safety of both the firefighters and motorist.
Firefighters brought the fire under control in approximately 30 minutes after arrival of the first crews. At that point, they moved to a salvage and overhaul phase. This ensures that anything in the home that hadn’t already been destroyed by the flames, smoke, and water were covered, removed, or protected. This is also where they open walls and ceiling to check and make sure the fire hadn’t extended or there were no hidden embers that might rekindle. The incident commander had already reported that a family pet had been rescued and was outside and safe.
Because there weren’t any fire hydrants close by, the teams used their trucks’ on-board tanks for water supply. Aiken County Co-Op was asked to dispatch a crew to disconnect the electricity. The American Red Cross was also notified to assist the three adults displaced when the home burned.
The fire was deemed out just before 5:30 a.m. Firefighters were still on scene finishing up and Hwy. 6 was still blocked until crews began returning to their stations removing their trucks from the highway.
It doesn’t appear as if there were any injuries as a result of the fire. The home appears to be totaled out. The origin of the fire hasn’t been determined as of this writing.
