Fire consumes apartments, injures firefighters

Two Charleston firefighters were injured this afternoon as a fire swept through a West Ashley apartment complex and displaced six families.

One of the wounded men was Capt. Art Wittner, the lone survivor of the Engine 16 crew, which responded to the Sofa Super Store fire that killed nine firefighters last summer.

A file cabinet fell on Wittner's head as he worked the 4 p.m. fire at the Ashley Grove Apartments on Ashley Hall Road, Acting Fire Chief Ronnie Classen said.

Wittner came outside, sat on the ground and held one hand to the right side of his head. Medical workers carried him away on a gurney.

A CT scan and other tests at Roper Hospital showed nothing serious, Classen said. "He's doing fine," Classen said. "He's just got a big headache."

Doctors kept Wittner several more hours for observation and released him.

The other firefighter, who Classen did not identify, fell against a wall and injured his shoulder. That wound did not appear to be serious, and the firefighter was released from Roper, Classen said.

Dazed residents stood in the blistering heat and watched for nearly an hour as firefighters battled the blaze. Firefighters fought the fire in Building D from inside until it broke through the roof. Then firefighters attacked from the outside for their safety, Classen said. The fire consumed four apartments, he said.

Read more in tomorrow's editions of The Post and Courier.