Samaria, SC - 03/19/2021 (Paul Kirby) – Lexington County firefighters spent several hours early Friday morning battling a house fire in far western Lexington County. The fire was reported about 3:00 a.m. on North Edisto Road just off Samaria Highway between US 178 and the Aiken County line.
Firefighters and equipment from multiple stations were dispatched to the fire. When the first teams arrived, the reported there was smoke coming from the second story of the home. They deemed this a working fire, and an officer began requesting additional water tanker trucks that would be needed to supply the teams due to a lack of fire hydrants in the area.
Crews quickly formed and went on the attack as additional county resources converged on scene. The firefighters broke into groups with some searching the home while others attacked the fire or ventilated the structure. Working together as a team, they were able to find and bring the fire under control.
A Lexington County EMS unit stood by during the operation in case any of the firefighters or civilians were hurt during the operation. They are an integral part of the safety team that ensures operations are running smoothly and the inherent danger of fighting a fire is kept to an absolute minimum.
One officer began ordering equipment from stations that weren’t actively involved in the firefight to move up to empty stations. These redistributed resources ensure the fire service can still provide a high level of protection to all the citizens of the county in the event that another emergency in some other location is reported.
The fire was out and most of the fire equipment was leaving the scene around 5:00 a.m. Friday. It took the firefighters some time to reload their trucks with water, hoses, compressed air, and fuel before they were ready to go again.
At this time, Lexington County has not publicly released any report of injuries. They have not said what they believe started the fire either.
