Authorities say cigarette started fire

Officials conclude Blackville blaze was not intentional, caused by five teen-agers smoking in a warehouse
Web posted Wednesday, November 1, 2000

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By Greg Rickabaugh
South Carolina Bureau

BLACKVILLE, S.C. - A fire that destroyed half a city block Monday night was caused by a cigarette discarded by a group of Barnwell County teen-agers smoking in an old warehouse, authorities said Tuesday.

No charges were filed against two 18-year-olds and three juveniles, Blackville Police Chief Dale Sims said.

``The fire was not intentionally set, but it was caused by five boys upstairs smoking in the building,'' he said. ``We don't know yet whether we are going to charge them with trespassing or not, but we have no criminal intent on the fire.''

State agents were called to Blackville on Tuesday to investigate the cause of the fire. Information led officials to place the five boys in the area near the time of the fire. They were interviewed by State Law Enforcement Division agents Tuesday, and their stories matched, the chief said.

Meanwhile, Blackville fire officials continued pouring water onto hot spots into the early morning hours Tuesday, trying to extinguish the fire that had ravaged three old brick buildings and reduced the structures to rubble.

The structures destroyed were mainly vacant buildings. One was an old bank building last used as a medical office. Another was the old Ford building for automobile sales, and a third was formerly Palm Beach Co., a manufacturing firm.

Augusta Fiberglass was using the old Palm Beach Co. building as a warehouse to store old tools, a company representative said Tuesday.

That was where the boys climbed a back stairwell to the second floor and entered an unsecured door to smoke, Chief Sims said. One of the boys did not extinguish his cigarette before leaving, he said.

``He threw a cigarette down and it went through the cracks, and it must have been a smoldering cigarette. They left, and that's when the building caught on fire,'' Chief Sims said.

SLED arson investigators will bring in a specially trained dog today to verify the boys' story.

``We're going to go in there and make sure we don't find any accelerants after it cools down. But I don't think we're going to find any accelerants, but it's just another part of the investigation,'' the chief said.

Reach Greg Rickabaugh at (803) 279-6895.

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