Business owners at Irmo strip mall assess damage after fire

Today business owners at St. Andrews Center in Irmo are assessing the damage in the daylight after a fire on Monday evening.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO) – Today business owners at St. Andrews Center in Irmo are assessing the damage in the daylight after a fire on Monday evening. No one was hurt and the cause of the fire is still under investigation. 

Fred Najim is the owner of Hair Power Designs for Women and Men which is the closest to the establishment that received the most damage. He showed ABC Columbia the number of needed repairs around the salon.

 “A lot of water damage. I think the fire department opened a hole and the water came down. The fire department broke the door to get in and then they let all the water come from the ceiling,” says Najim.

Right now there is no electricity and the salon is temporarily closed.

Irmo Fire and four surrounding fire departments helped to put out the blaze. According to Irmo Fire, the group effort saved the bulk of the strip mall by preventing the fire from spreading. Pastor David Ford of Calvary Chapel Irmo says he is thankful for the quick response. 

“On the way here my heart sunk because we had put so much work into this place – I thought the place would be up in flames but when we got here and we realized it wasn’t up in flames it was a huge relief to know that our church is still here. So we praise the Lord, we’re very thankfully for that,” says Pastor Ford.

Calvary Chapel Irmo does have some damage and smoke still needs to clear out. 

“Absolutely positively we’ll have church on Sunday . . . tomorrow night is a question mark,” says Pastor Ford.