House fire off West Beltline, eighth blaze since January for the area
Columbia Fire Department is responding to a fire at 3816 High Circle off West Beltline Boulevard in the Booker Washington Heights neighborhood.
The fire is under control according to CFD but High Circle remains closed. Columbia Police Department is also on the scene working with CFD.
The house was vacant according to according to Mike DeSumma, spokesperson for CFD. No bodies have been found. No injuries are reported either and relatively little damaged happened to other properties. A power line was downed and remains down after the blaze.
Firefighters responded to the fire at about 1:50 and found the front of the home ablaze. No cause has been determined. Investigator are coming to the scene.
This is the second fire on High Circle in four days and the eighth fire in the Booker Washington Heights area since January.
On Sunday CPD responded to a reported burglary at 2711 High Circle. Inside the homeowner noticed fire damage to the interior and several electronics missing, according to CPD spokesperson Jennifer Timmons.
Just the day before CPD and CFD responded to a structure fire shortly after 10:00 p.m. at 1909 High Street, less than a mile from the next day's fire.
In April, a house on Beaumont Avenue in Booker Washington Heights burned. On May 5, a fire at the same address destroyed a backyard garage. A third blaze gutted another home on Beaumont on June 15. None of those houses were occupied and nobody was injured, according to Columbia Fire Department Chief Aubrey Jenkins.
On June 18 a woman's body was discovered by firefighters following a house fire on Carver Street. Her death was not related to the fire according to the Richland County Coroner. Another fire happened in January in Booker Washington Heights.
Investigators have labeled some of the fires as suspicious but have not termed them as arson yet. Some of the fires are being treated as related Fire Chief Aubrey Jenkins has said.
Today's fire makes the eighth fire since January within or nearby the historically black neighborhood of Booker Washington Heights.
Residents of Booker Washington Heights have expressed concern and fear due to the fires. Still, neighborhood association President Regina Williams has said her neighborhood is moving in a positive direction and is reaching out to city officials and outside organization in the preservation of Booker Washington Heights.
“I don’t know who’s benefiting from these fires," Williams said at a recently Columbia City Council meeting. "I know that once these fires occur, the houses are razed and you have the land.”
This story was originally published June 27, 2018 at 2:29 PM.