SUMTER, S.C. — Several students are safe following a Thursday afternoon fire at a daycare, Sumter Fire officials say.
A department spokesperson said the fire happened at the Clubhouse Learning Center on Wilson Hall Road, next to the Sumter School District's main office. Authorities said all 47 students and six staff at the daycare were accounted for.
"It's a Godsend," Sumter Fire Division Chief Jeffrey Shirley said. "So often, the results are the other way, and in the event that this had to happen, if the building burned, the building can be replaced; the stuff inside the building can be replaced. But, thankfully, all the occupants are safe and accounted for."
Jenni Lewis, who works next to the learning center, said she saw smoke coming from the building and ran inside.
"It was pouring out everywhere, and you could hear the glass breaking," she said. "And as I went around the front and I went to the other side, I didn't even make it halfway around the other side, and I could not breathe in that smoke."
Lewis said first responders arrived a short time later.
Sharon Goff said she was returning from her lunch break when she saw the smoke and ran to help.
"That's really what I thought about first was running to the kids," she said.
Goff said she spoke with parents who came to get their kids after she knew they were safely out of the building.
"Just making sure, calming them down, prayed with him a few," Goff said. "Just letting them know they were strong. They were big boys and girls, and that their friends were OK. And I got big smiles after that. So, the kids were great. Great."
During the fire, Sumter Police shut down a portion of Wilson Hall Road between Wesmark Boulevard and Broad Street. The department said in an update that the section reopened at 4:40 p.m.
Police said daycare administrations notified parents, and officers helped coordinate getting parents to their kids after the fire.
Goff, who works with Wedgefield Baptist Church's daycare, said she's working to ensure the kids have somewhere to go.
"You know, these babies have to go somewhere; you know, parents still have to work," she said. "You know, they have a schedule, they still have to work, so if we can help them, we have an orphanage at Wedgefield Baptist also that is not open yet. And so we're going to try to accommodate that."
In a statement on social media, the learning center expressed its appreciation to the community and thankfulness that no one was hurt.
"We have no words to express what happened today, except that all children and staff were out safe without incident," the center said. "We cannot thank the surrounding businesses, people driving by that stopped to help and, most of all, the Sumter Fire Department."
The center said it would notify families of the next steps when it determined what they were.
Crews are still investigating the cause of the fire.