COLUMBIA, S.C. — A massive fire Saturday night injured two firefighters on West Beltline Boulevard in Columbia. The fire destroyed two buildings and damaged a nearby home.
“Lord Jesus, don't let this apartment burn out," Michelle Hart said. "We ain't got nowhere else to go, and it's hard out here these days, and we need a roof over our heads.”
Those thoughts ran through her head when she saw the business attached to her home was on fire.
“Our neighbor was coming home from work, and he knocked on the door, and he was like, 'Hey, y'all, the store's on fire. Y'all better get out of there,'" Hart said. "When I turned around and I looked, all I seen was flames blazing. It was bad. Everything was on fire."
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Around 11:40 p.m. on Saturday, Columbia-Richland Fire crews were called to the West Beltline Boulevard and Brookland Circle area. When they arrived, they found flames rapidly spreading inside and through the building's roof, prompting them to call for a second crew. Moments later, one side of the building collapsed, injuring two firefighters.
“Our firefighters started surrounding the building," Columbia-Richland Fire Marshal George Adams said. "Two firefighters were injured, and they were transported to the hospital. One is still in the hospital, and one has been released.”
Fire officials said crews worked more than four hours to bring the fire under control.
“What really made this fire difficult was emergency vehicle access because of overhead power lines," Adams said. "We weren't able to position our area operation as close as we would like because of the power lines.”
While crews worked to put out the fire, residents said they experienced power outages.
“A lot of smoke in there. It's smoke damage, but it didn't catch on or anything, and they deemed it safe to live here," Hart said. "Electric is back on, which it had went out after the roof collapsed over there; the electric, everything went out. We sat out here from about 1 all the way up to 5:30, almost 6, this morning."
Fire officials said the structures of the former beauty salon and local insurance company office are a total loss, but Hart said she’s thankful for a neighbor's knock on her door.
"The house is still standing," she said. "No water got over there or anything like that, just smoke. All that water all night long. Everything's stable,”
Fire officials said they are close to determining the cause of the fire and hope to release those details soon. The department would not release the firefighters' names or the severity of their injuries.