North Charleston neighbors recovering following multi-home fire

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – North Charleston Fire Department (NCFD) officials say they responded to a single home fire on Beret Street Tuesday afternoon, but the fire quickly spread due to high winds.

“It’s gone now,” Elizabeth McClarnon, who has lived on Beret Street for 15 years, said. “A lot of families are gone and it’s just not right. Our neighborhood is not going to be the same again.”

Neighbors who live in the area are still trying to wrap their heads around Tuesday night’s tragic blaze that left at least six homes severely damaged, and nine adults and three children displaced.

“My heart broke,” McClarnon said. “It’s just looking at it, it makes me want to cry again.”

McClarnon’s home wasn’t damaged in the fire, however, she’s close with several neighbors whose homes were.

“It feels like my home,” she said. “She was my landlord. He’s my landlord, and I consider them family. Every time I come home, I see this house and now I’m not going to see it anymore. It’s sadness.”

Though the flames have been subdued, hot spots remain an issue. One sparked up while News 2 was at the scene.

Neighbors say NCFD has been to their neighborhood multiple times in the last 24 hours.

“When I woke up, came out, first thing I saw was smoke coming off of it. They came out, put it out again. And that’s what they’re doing again, finding more hotspots,” McClarnon said.

And while the American Red Cross is assisting those who were displaced, McClarnon says it’s hard to see her neighbors without a home, and she’s not entirely sure what the future holds for them.

“We don’t know,” she said. “We don’t know where we’re going to go from here.”

But she’s thankful they’re alive, and they’re going to make it through this devastating time together.

“We always stick together,” McClarnon said. “No matter what, even if we don’t like each other, we stick together.”

NCFD was able to put out the hot spots, and neighbors say they will remain alert in case anymore spark up in the coming days.