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Arson suspected in fire that displaces 45 apartment residents
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Heatherwood Apartment Fire
Anderson city, county, and several agencies responded to a Heatherwood Apartments fire shortly after 4 a.m. on West Whitner street in Anderson Sunday morning. Officials accounted for the 45 residents in the affected area of the apartments, some suffering injuries, and other smoke inhalation.
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Photo by Ken Ruinard
Heatherwood Apartments evacuee Leta Anderson, left, 67, gets assistance from Eve Miville of the American Red Cross Upstate SC Chapter mobile truck outside the Heatherwood Apartment on West Whitner street in Anderson Sunday morning. "I got my dog and out I come," Mrs. Graves said about the evacuation shortly after 4 a.m.
Photo by Ken Ruinard
Heatherwood Apartments evacuees Margaret Graves, 81, left, and her Yorkie dog Scooter, as well as Leta Anderson, middle, 67, get assistance at the American Red Cross Upstate SC chapter mobile truck outside the Heatherwood Apartment on West Whitner street in Anderson Sunday morning. "I got my dog and out I come," Mrs. Graves said about the evacuation shortly after 4 a.m.
Photo by Ken Ruinard
Heatherwood Apartments suffered a fire Sunday morning in a section of the apartments on West Whitner street in Anderson. Anderson city, Anderson County, and SLED investigators look over the damage on the second floor around 11 a.m.
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ANDERSON — A fire that displaced 45 people early Sunday morning and caused $250,000 worth of damage to the in Heatherwood Apartments in Anderson is considered arson.
Jack Abraham, chief of the Anderson City Fire Department, said two “suspicious” fires took place at 1025 W. Whitner St., the second of which started at approximately 4:35 a.m. There were no fatalities, he said, but six residents and two police officers were transported to the AnMed Health Medical Center for injuries not considered to be life-threatening.
The responders for the fire included the city of Anderson Police Department, the Anderson city and county fire departments and Anderson County Department of Public Safety, Abraham said. The city police department, city fire department and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division arson task force concluded their investigation and determined the fire was arson.
There were no fire sprinklers in the complex at the time of the Fire, Abraham said.
“We are considering both fires suspicious,” Abraham said. “The arson task force was called to help determine the cause of both.”
Property managers are notifying family members of the residents, and arrangements are being made, Abraham said. Residents who were displaced were transferred to the Cornerstone Assembly of God by the Anderson branch of the American Red Cross, he said.
Lisa Vassar, 42, of Anderson said that her mother, Carol Callaham, 65, was transferred from the AnMed Health Medical Center to Greenville Memorial Hospital at approximately 9 a.m. Sunday after suffering a fractured ankle. Callaham injured the ankle after she hung from the rails of the balcony of her second-floor apartment before letting go and falling to the ground, Vassar said.
“She is trying to stay chipper,” Vassar said of her mother. “It could have been a lot worse.”
She said that Callaham is also concerned about a black-and-white Persian cat named Jazzie that she lost before she escaped the apartment. Callaham is known as a resident who frequently does a lot of gardening for the exterior of the complex, Vassar said.
Vassar said that the apartment her mother was living in sustained water and smoke damage. Callaham soon will have surgery on her ankle.
Janet McPhail, a volunteer with the Red Cross, said most of the displaced people were picked up from the church by noon Sunday.
“The people that came in here were glad to be alive, and people beat on their doors and told them there was a fire,” McPhail said.
The residents might worry about lost furniture or clothing later on, she said. She also said firefighters went back into the apartments to retrieve glasses and medicine, and she does not think residents were allowed back into the complex to retrieve belongings as of Sunday afternoon.
The first fire started at 1:27 a.m. Sunday at Heatherwood Apartments. It caused no structural damage after several magazines were left burning in the first floor lobby. The city fire department responded to that fire, and investigators also determined that fire was arson.
The fires left significant structural damage to the lobbies on both floors and the roof.
Residents who would like to make donations to help those who were displaced can call the Anderson branch of the American Red Cross at (864) 225-8666.
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"members of the residents and arraignments are being made" if investigators are still investigating ? it's a little early for arraignments.
Very poorly written article. I would imagine that's supposed to read *arrangements. Also it says several times that the residents were at the shelter on Saturday, and the fire happened on Saturday. The fire wasn't until Sunday morning so how would the residents be "picked up by noon on Saturday." Or "she does not think the residents were allowed back into the complex to retrieve belongings as of Saturday afternoon." If both fires happened early Sunday morning I guess they were planning ahead?
My goodness, here you go again. Why complain, and try to show every error possible. These writers are trying to get the news to you as quickly as possible, and all you do is complain! Also, it would be nice to see a word of relief that noone was killed, or a thank you to the many individuals that assisted in the fire. I hope you sit and think, what is more important, how a word was spelled or the day of the week, or that everyone lived and is safe!!! Think about it, life is to short to always complain.....go and volunteer to help these people, go and help feed the hungry, go and do something useful, you will feel alot better.
I completely agree with softballgirl. Instead of complaining about the grammar in the article, how about thanking all of the firemen and police officers who risked their lives to save these people. And what about the medics who stood by ready to help someone in need??? Anderson City FD, Centerville FD, Broadway FD, Hopewell FD, Homeland Park FD, not to mention off duty firefighters, police officers, and medics got out of bed at 4:35 this morning to save total strangers.... what did you do today???
The first two posts (and this one, for that matter) on this story should be removed.
in response to acff
I completely agree. Its pitiful that people enjoy commenting on things that have no importance whatsoever. What about these elderly folks that almost lost their lives and what little they had? Thank God for the firefighters, all of them, who responded. My thoughts and prayers are always with you and I admire what you do and would do for me or anyone else. As for the police officers and others who also responded, my God bless you also and thanks for all that you do.
What did I do today? I was one of those people so don't start jumping down peoples throats and saying I'm a bad person because I complain about grammar on a Newspaper website when you don't know me and you don't know what I do. I am one of those volunteers at one of the County stations and I do volunteer a lot of my time to these people and others like them. A lot more than the majority of the community of Anderson. And definitely a lot more than people care to acknowledge. So don't ridicule me for expecting something better from the local Newspaper. I'm simply asking for a simple thing called proofreading.
There were 6 residents and 2 police officers injured during this fire, and all you want to do is complain about the grammar!! There were many heroes out there this morning. Many of the city police officers, were first on the scene. None of them have been trained to fight fires, yet they answered the call and stayed, risking their own lives, making sure everyone was out. I think all these men and women should be commended. Everytime you turn around these men and women are being harrassed about their job, well what about now????!!!!!Where's Tony Stewart now?? If it wouldn't have been for these officers alot of people probably wouldn't have made it out. Let's let them know how we appreciate all of them. Give your first responder a "pat on the back" and just let them know you appreciate them and what they do.
There are other unsung heros----The American Red Cross. I know that the Emergency Response Vehicle came from Greenville. Anderson doesn't have one.
Somebody got up at 4am, went to the Chapter House, loaded the truck, and drove the 30 so miles to Anderson. The Red Cross is in financal trouble---they do good work---Please donate.
in response to Lamanamanumi
1. Keep it clean. Comments containing obscene, profane, vulgar, lewd or sexually-oriented language -- including creative spelling and typographical representations of foul language -- will be removed.
i don't see any of the above in any comments.
It's a miracle no one was killed. I hope they catch whoever started the fire and charge them with 45 counts of attempted murder. The sorry b*stard(s) set the place on fire in the middle of the night when they knew the elderly residents would be asleep so they must've been trying to kill them.
in response to get_real
I agree with you getreal
What kind of sick individual would start a fire in an apartment complex with just senior citizens? I hope they catch the person(s) responsible for this and punish them to the max. Maybe life in prison. And yes they should be charged with attempted murder.
And to those of you who have nothing better to do than pick apart an article because of grammar, etc.. get a life. I agree that there are many heroes out there who risked their lives and all you can do is complain things weren't done perfectly... GEEZE
I personally feel sorry for the people that lived there and I pray whoever did this has to PAY. I would like to comment this is another place that Anderson County could help instead of 2.5 million for a hanger at the airport. Our taxes are going up and being spent for foolishness. These people really need the help and most of us are doing the best we can dealing with the economy as it is, and cannot afford to donate to The Red Cross or anyone.
My apologies for leaving out the American Red Cross in my last comment. Thank you so much for your help! It really means a lot to all of us.
in response to redrider2k5
No, but if you had read further you would have seen this:
"5. Stay focused. Keep on the story's topic.
6. Help us get it right. If you have information to add to the story or you find a factual error or misspelling send us an email or call the newsroom at 864-260-1274."
They give you a phone number AND an email address to report typographical errors, so as not to clog up the commenting section. In case you missed it, there is also an option to comment privately, so that those of us who actually care about the subject of the article aren't strayed away from it, such as has happened.
in response to jmac25
"And definitely a lot more than people care to aknowledge." I am not an English teacher, but that seems poorly written to me. People in glass houses....
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