Second Fire Hits Golf Carts in S.C. County

Feb. 25--The Beaufort County Sheriff's Office is still investigating the Friday night fire that destroyed a golf cart barn and 80 golf carts at Eagle's Point Golf Course in Bluffton.

Meanwhile, residents of the Eagle's Pointe neighborhood were asked Monday to not fish or otherwise use the neighborhood's lagoons because battery acid from the golf carts could have gotten into the water.

An email from the neighborhood's property owner's association president Joe Patano said it's "very unlikely" that acid has gotten into the water, but that the association wanted to advise residents of the possibility just to be safe.

The fire, which destroyed all of the course's carts, occurred at about 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Eagle's Pointe Golf Course.

A resident said Saturday he saw the fire when he and his wife were leaving the neighborhood to go to dinner. He called 911 to report the flames, and about two minutes later the golf cart barn "exploded," Diego Mahecha said.

Bluffton Township Fire District firefighters were on scene shortly after Mahecha called 911, and more than a dozen worked more than three hours to put out the fire.

According to a Monday news release from the Sheriff's Office, a golfer using the driving range said when he left at about 6:45 p.m. Friday he didn't see any suspicious activity or sign of fire.

No employees are believed to have been at the course when the fire started.

There was no sign of forced entry to the property. The cause of the fire is still undetermined.

This is the second fire at a golf cart shed in southern Beaufort County since November. Fifty-two carts were destroyed when a shed at Bear Creek Golf Club in Hilton Head Plantation burned Nov. 26. That fire was set by an arsonist, authorities have said.

The Sheriff's Office is asking anyone with information to contact Investigator Cpl. W. Conant at 843-255-3424 or Crimestoppers at 1-888-CRIME-SC (274-6372).

Copyright 2013 - The Island Packet (Hilton Head Island, S.C.)