West Columbia house fire leaves one dead Wednesday morning

West Columbia, SC 04/20/2022 (Paul Kirby) – A house fire has claimed the life of a person in the City of West Columbia Wednesday morning. The calls regarding the fire began coming in shortly before 11:30 a.m. The single-family home is located on Goldfinch Lane off Robin Crest in an older, well established subdivision that’s located behind the Rush’s off Sunset Blvd. near the I-26 interchange.

According to City of West Columbia’s Deputy Fire Chief Marquis Solomon, when firefighters arrived, they found heavy smoke and fire coming from the left end of the home at the carport. The fire had extended into the home.

First due crews made an aggressive attack while a team was put into search and rescue mode. Another truck came in and finished establishing a water supply from a fire hydrant in the area. Eventually, the victim was located inside the home. Firefighters pulled the person outside however, that individual was pronounced deceased on scene. At this point, Lexington County Coroner Margaret Fisher’s office was notified, and a team was dispatched to deal with their investigation into the cause and manner of death.

Chief Solomon said that West Columbia received assistance from the Lexington County Fire Service, the City of Cayce FD, the City of Columbia FD, and the Irmo Fire District. There were also units from Lexington County EMS and the West Columbia Police Department on the scene assisting.

The exact cause of the fire has not been released. Coroner Fisher will not release the name of the victim until that person’s next of kin has been properly notified.