By HEATHER RUPPE
A Cottageville family lost their home and most of their belongings in a Sunday, Dec. 19th house fire.
A neighbor of the fire victims saw smoke coming from the residence and called 911. “Engine 9 arrived minutes later to find smoke coming from all the eaves of the single-wide mobile home,” said Colleton County Fire Rescue Chief Barry McRoy.
McRoy said that as crews entered the front door, fire began blowing out two of the front windows. Firefighters also discovered flames in a rear addition of the house.
According to McRoy, most of the flames were contained to two of the front rooms. However, the rest of the house suffered smoke and heat damage, he said. “The family was able to safely exit the home before firefighters arrived,” he said, adding that “many” personal items were saved.
The fire “appears” to have started from an overloaded power strip in the dining room, which also had a space heater connected to it, said McRoy.
In all, fire crews were on scene for more than two hours.
