Bluff Plantation Fire

Posted

The first response of 2023 was received at approximately 3:23 a.m. in the 3500 block of Combahee Rd. A fire alarm activation was received at 9-1-1, followed by a caller advising a residence was on fire. Engine 13 arrived at the “big house” at Bluff Plantation, a three-story structure, finding smoke coming from the building. Crews met with the property manager and found the interior of the building charged with smoke and fire in one wall and in the 30-foot vaulted ceiling. Firefighter-Paramedics deployed two handlines to the building.

The homeowners were awakened to the smell of smoke before the fire alarm was activated. They discovered flames above a built-in grille on an enclosed porch. The fire had extended into the wall, burning into the interior and then branching into the ceiling burning to the peak of the roof. The homeowner threw multiple buckets of water on the fire knocking down the flames over the grille.

The Property Manager arrived and used a garden hose to douse much of the flames around the wall. Firefighters deployed extension ladders to the interior and pulled some of the tongue and groove wooden ceiling to reach some of the flames. The Property Manager had some scaffolding available which he brought to the scene. He and firefighters assembled the scaffolding in the great room to reach the ceiling. This allowed them to remove the remainder of the burned portions and cool the remaining burned areas. The ceiling suffered damage, but the structure was saved. No injuries were reported during the incident. Fire units were on the scene for over three hours.