Fire destroyed Columbia cop’s home and killed his dog. Now his community is helping

A fund raiser is underway for a Columbia police officer and his wife after a fire destroyed their home and killed their dog a week before Thanksgiving.

Officer Robert Hall is a 35-year veteran of the Columbia Police Department, according to Serve & Connect, a local nonprofit that assists officers who are injured or killed in the line of duty and their families. On Nov. 16, his family’s home burned to the ground, killing their pet German Shepard Sadie.

“My heart just breaks for him,” said Kassy Alia Ray, who started Serve & Connect after her husband, Forest Acres officer Greg Alia, was killed in the line of duty in 2015. “He’s been on the force for 35 years. I’d heard that he had just recently paid off his house.”

The blaze that destroyed the Cayce home happened just after 9 a.m. on Nov. 16, according to Sgt. Evan Antley of the Cayce Department of Public Safety. No one was home at the time, and neighbors called 911 to report the fire.

The fire is believed to have started in the kitchen around the oven, but the exact cause remains under investigation, Antley said.

Hall was not available for an interview.

Serve & Connect created the Robert Hall Recovery Fund on Nov. 19 and since then has raised more than $4,300 of its $5,000 goal.

All proceeds will go to Hall and his family, and donations are tax-deductible, according to the page.

Serve & Connect is working with Columbia pizzeria Village Idiot Pizza on another fundraiser for Hall and his family. It will be Dec. 13 at Village Idiot’s Five Points location on Devine Street.

This story was originally published December 2, 2018 at 2:25 PM.