Columbia Fire Department Responded To Three Fires In One Hour

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Columbia, S.C. (WOLO)– According to the Columbia Fire department, the first one was a grease fire at the restaurant Greek Boys on Sumpter. The second call was at the Beldon Spring Lake Apartments and the third at a residential house on Robin Lynn Lane.

If you drove to the apartment building, you would see a huge hole in the roof and multiple broken windows. Columbia’s Fire department says it took about 45 minutes for them to get the flames under control. Today I spoke with the woman who made that 9-1-1 phone call.

“I saw the sliding glass door was blackened, and the blinds were melted, so I ran around front, called 911 and then covered my face and went up there,” Leanna Hern said. Hern is being called a hero by the American Red Cross staff that responded to help those affected by the apartment fire. Hern said her fiance will not be happy knowing she went back into the building to rescue their four pets, and help others evacuate, while she’s pregnant.  

“That’s the type of person I am. I can’t, I’m a helper, I’m a doer. I can’t just sit there and do nothing. If there’s something to be done I’m going to do it,” Hern said. 

The Columbia Fire Department said the apartment fire displaced at least 15 people–  seven apartments and one leasing office are destroyed.

“I’ve never been in an experience like this. So this is all new to me,” Hern said.

“It has been busy. This was the third one within an hour for us, so that’s kind of busy, even for the Columbia Fire department,” Don Martin said, Battalion 2 Chief of Columbia Fire. 

According to the department, Greek Boys sustained the least amount of damage. The fire at the home on Robin Lynn Lane caused about $20 thousand dollars worth of damage. The apartment fire cost has yet to be determined. But luckily, there were no injuries reported in any of the fires.

“Don’t try to save anything. She did the right thing on this one. She got herself and her pet outside and that’s all you can do,” Martin said. 

The Richland County fire marshall is investigating to determine the cause of the apartment. They want to take this time to remind everyone to check your smoke alarms regularly.