Weekend fire damaged 70% of Darla Moore’s Lake City, SC, home, official says

The home of local philanthropist Darla Moore suffered extensive damage in a fire over the weekend.

Roughly 70% of the house suffered fire damage and the entire house suffered smoke damage, said Debbie Altman, spokeswoman for South Lynches Fire, which responded to the initial fire.

Nobody was injured in the fire, police said Saturday.

Moore’s family has lived on the Lake City property for six generations, according to the New York Times. The one-story house, built in 1918, has a footprint of nearly 6,200 square feet, according to Florence County property records.

It’s unclear what started the fire, but Maj. Mike Nunn of the Florence County Sheriff’s Office said Monday, “We don’t consider this a law enforcement issue.”

Within Columbia, Moore is best known for her $70 million donation to the University of South Carolina, which erected the Darla Moore School of Business, in her name. Moore, who also donated $10 million to Clemson University, was even more generous in her home town of Lake City, where she said she spent $100 million establishing arts festivals, building botanical gardens and more.

This story was originally published May 3, 2021 at 10:48 AM.