Morning fire claims Dingle Street home

Fire burned through a house near Huger Street on the upper Charleston peninsula early Thursday.

No one was home when flames appeared at 4 Dingle St. shortly before 5 a.m. Although the three-bedroom dwelling was left a charred ruin, the flames did not spread to neighbors' houses, separated by only the width of a narrow driveway in one direction and even less in the other.

Homeowner Francis Coaxum, 69, said he rushed over from Mount Pleasant after seeing a news report. "They did a good job containing this thing," he said as he eyed the difference between his house and the practically unscathed homes to either side.

Coaxum said his younger brother Chris Coaxum has been living in the home for the better part of 20 years but was in the hospital at the time of the fire.

Firefighters were called at 4:41 a.m. and arrived a minute later, said Mark Ruppel, the department's public information officer. They evacuated nearby homes, a standard precaution.

Neighbor Arthur English, 75, said he was sound asleep when a police officer woke him up and took him to safety out in the street.

Ruppel said crews brought the fire under control by 5:01 a.m.

The cause was under investigation, he said, but there did not appear to be anything suspicious.

Reach Noah Haglund at 937-5550 or nhaglund@postandcourier.com.