RICHLAND COUNTY, SC — A fire that destroyed a mobile home in Northeast Richland County early Tuesday morning is being treated as an arson, officials said.

An individual at the scene was treated for smoke inhalation and released, Columbia-Richland Fire Department spokesman Brick Lewis said. It was not clear what the individual’s connection to the fire was. The home was vacant and undergoing renovations, Lewis said.

Fire crews were called about the fire at 108 Dawning Lane around 3:56 a.m. and arrived to find the home fully engulfed in flames.

“That’s typical for a trailer fire,” Lewis said.

The home had power and had been under renovation for about four months, Lewis said.

A routine investigation by the Richland County Fire Marshal’s Office turned up evidence that the fire could be the result of arson, leading to the involvement of the Richland County Sheriff’s Department.

The sheriff’s department was in the early stages of its investigation Tuesday morning and confirmed only that it was looking into the fire and that an individual had been treated, spokesman Curtis Wilson said. The man had not been interviewed yet and was not being referred to as a suspect.

Kelly Davis