Kitchen fire displaces Dorchester County family

DORCHESTER — A kitchen fire displaced a family from a home in this community south of Harleyville this morning, the Dorchester Rural Volunteer Fire Department said.

Crews were dispatched to 1229 E. Main St. around 11 a.m. and found about half the home's kitchen on fire, said Capt. Forrest Cockcroft said. Firefighters extinguished the flames in five to 10 minutes. Firefighters from Harleyville and Ridgeville assisted.

Nobody was home at the time, Cockcroft said. Though problems started in the kitchen, the fire's exact cause was unknown early Monday afternoon. A woman and her grown children who lived at the home were seeking temporary help from the local American Red Cross chapter, as much of the structure had heat and smoke damage.