Habitat facility burns

Offices gutted, other businesses damaged

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.

---

Notice about comments:
The Post and Courier is pleased to offer readers the ability to comment on stories. We expect our readers to engage in lively, yet civil discourse. The Post and Courier does not edit user submitted statements and we cannot promise that readers will not occasionally find offensive or inaccurate comments posted in the comments area. Responsibility for the statements posted lies with the person submitting the comment, not postandcourier.com. If you find a comment that is objectionable, please click "suggest removal" and we will review it for possible removal. Please be reminded, however, that in accordance with our Terms of Use and federal law, we are under no obligation to remove any third party comments posted on our Web site.
Full terms and conditions can be read here.

---

Comments

This article has  1 comment(s)