3 escape fire with minor injuries

Mic Smith
The Post and Courier

Justice douses a hot spot at a house and garage fire at 1438 U.S. Highway 17 North on Monday.

Mic Smith
The Post and Courier

Chad Harris (left) and George Justice of the Mount Pleasant Fire Department work on putting out hot spots at a house fire Monday.

Three people and two dogs safely escaped a Mount Pleasant home that caught fire about noon Monday.

The fire occurred at 1438 U.S. Highway 17 North, a frontage road near Interstate 526.

Mike Collins, 27, was working on a car in the attached garage when he saw a spark from an extension cord ignite fumes from a gas container.

"It shot to me," he said. "It blew me backward out the door."

Collins managed to get a second gas container out before the gas tank in the Plymouth Neon exploded, he said.

As Collins described what happened, his blistered fingers grasped the handles of his bags, filled with his belongings. His white T-shirt and face were smudged with soot.

Collins lived in the rented house with his employer, Steve Haendle, Haendle's daughter and her 2-year-old son. Haendle was not at home when the fire broke out. Collins got the mother, child and two dogs out of the house as smoke started pouring in from the garage, he said.

The Mount Pleasant Fire Department responded with four fire trucks, Battalion Chief Bud Thames said. The fire took about 45 minutes to extinguish, he said.

A lieutenant who suffered an apparent back injury was transported to East Cooper Regional Medical Center, Thames said. He did not disclose the lieutenant's name.

The residents moved into the rental property about 10 days ago, Collins said. The garage was filled with "all kinds of stuff," he said, and they were in the process of clearing it out. Five charred propane tanks and a gas tank were stacked neatly by the remains of the cinder block garage.

The renters had no contents insurance, Collins said.

The American Red Cross is assisting the residents.