Habitat facility burns

MOUNT PLEASANT — East Cooper Habitat for Humanity is homeless, a week before Christmas.

A slow-burning fire Wednesday night damaged the former WCIV News 4 building on Ben Sawyer Boulevard, gutting Habitat's administrative offices and causing some smoke damage to three businesses that occupy the large structure.

As many as 18 firefighters battled the 8:30 p.m. blaze. No one was injured.

"It's absolutely horrible," said Pat Neuhaus, president of the Habitat board of directors. "Any nonprofit operates on a shoestring, and anytime something like this happens, it sets you back."

A passerby spotted smoke coming from the building and called 911, Fire Department Battalion Chief Ron Alexander said. He said firefighters arrived to find a dangerous situation.

The windows of the Habitat offices were charred black and cracked in a spider-web pattern, an indication of a slow-burning fire that had been deprived of oxygen, Alexander said. He said it was the perfect conditions for a backdraft if firefighters had rushed in and suddenly introduced air, so instead they slowly pried open a door and methodically moved through the building, extinguishing the fire office by office.

Adjacent businesses appeared to have escaped fire damage but authorities were assessing the heat and smoke damage late Wednesday. Those businesses are Costless Outlet, Edward K. Pritchard Jr. law firm and the Moultrie News, which is owned by the Evening Post Publishing Co., parent company of The Post and Courier.

Moultrie News Publisher Vickey Boyd said this week's edition of the newspaper was printed Tuesday and delivered on Wednesday. The Pritchard Co. owns the building.

Habitat for Humanity recruits volunteers, builds homes for low-income families and provides the mortgages with no-interest loans. The East Cooper branch is one of five local affiliates and has constructed 50 homes since its inception in 1990.

Neuhaus said Habitat staff would have to move and must determine whether insurance would cover all of the expenses related to the fire. "We need a new home. We need one pretty quick," he said. "Hopefully we don't have to dip into funds that would be used to build houses and buy land."

Reach Nadine Parks at 937-5573 or nparks@postandcourier.com.