Abandoned house burns near Sumter cemetery

Three fire stations responded to a Thursday morning abandoned house fire near the Sumter Cemetery.

A call came in from a passerby about 7:15 a.m. to the structure on Charles Street at West Oakland Avenue, according to Sumter Fire Department Battalion Chief Joey Duggan. The residence was about 75 percent involved when the first truck arrived, with the front porch already having collapsed.

There was no one inside the residence at the time of the fire, and it appeared to be abandoned, Duggan said.

Firefighters were still working to put out hot spots more than an hour later. The blaze’s origin and cause have not yet been determined.

Headquarters, Alice Drive and Stadium Road stations responded with a total of three engines, a ladder truck, a rescue unit and a battalion chief, amounting to about 18 people on scene.

The Sumter Fire Department responded to several fires in the past week including a Loring Drive home of two adults and five children last Thursday night; a Meadowbrook Road home of two adults and five children on Monday morning; and the home of one adult on Anderson Street on Wednesday night.

The American Red Cross also responded to these fires with financial assistance for food, clothing, lodging and other essentials.

The Red Cross reminds residents when heating with space heaters to keep the unit three feet from anything that can burn and to turn off the space heater and unplug it before leaving a room or falling asleep. Also, do not use an extension cord; plug the unit directly into an outlet.