Multiple Side-by-Side Homes Burn in Fripp Island, SC

Emmy Ribero Karl Puckett
The Island Packet (Hilton Head Island, S.C.)
(TNS)

State law enforcement officials are investigating a fire that raged across a row of side-by-side two-story houses on the gated community of Fripp Island Saturday, destroying three and damaging others, according to residents and fire officials.

When reached at about 4 p.m., Fripp Fire Chief Joshua Horton said The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) was investigating the blaze.

Any details about the fire, Horton added, would need to come from SLED. A SLED spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.

SLED has an Arson Unit, which can be asked by local authorities to investigate what it refers to as “incendiary” cases.

SLED’s Lowcountry office said at around 4:45 p.m. that a SLED agent was on the way to the scene.

As of 3 p.m. the flames had been extinguished but first responders were still on the scene mopping up and investigating.

Christine Denney, who owns a maintenance company and works for Sand Castle Property Management, arrived on the scene at 10:46 a.m. and saw three houses engulfed in flames.

“They are very close together,” Denney told the Beaufort Gazette and Island Packet. “Two of them had already collapsed by the time I got there.”

Denney said the houses were two-stories tall with parking underneath. She was not sure if they were rental units but the houses are located on the way toward the marina.

Firefighters, she said, were “working their tails off” trying to put the fire out. “It was sad to watch fires burn the three houses,” she said.

Among the fire departments on the scene were Fripp, Burton, Lady’s Island-St. Helena and Beaufort-Port Royal. The fire impacted multiple properties.

Scott Harris, a spokesman for the Lady’s Island-St. Helena Fire Department, confirmed with the newspapers at 3 p.m. that three homes were involved at least.

The fire was out but firefighters remained on the scene for “overhaul and investigation.”

“The cause and the extent of damage are still undetermined,” Harris said.

As the fire raged, residents of the area reported the news online, sharing photos and video of the houses on Bonito Drive in flames.

“Fripp Island Near The Boathouse. 4 Houses On Fire Right Now,” Aldrena McKinnon reported on Facebook. “Keep praying.”

“The sirens continue to scream by as Fripp Island has just experienced a tragic event with the loss of 3 Bonito Rd. houses and two more houses being damaged,” Kathy Folds, a real estate agent company owner, said on Facebook.

She reported that a house 714 Bonito Drive was damaged and the houses at 716, 718 and 720 were burned down. She added that the house at the address of 722 was on fire but not burned down.

Fripp Island is a private, gated community located 20 miles east of Beaufort on the Atlantic coast.

“Out of respect for the families involved, I am going to pause messaging for the weekend,” the “Fripp Uncensored” Facebook page messaged members at 3:30 p.m.