When Doug Hartley left Florence Fire Station 1, he could see the smoke and flames coming from a resident on Georgia Avenue.
“It was fully involved. The fire was rolling from the top to the bottom and the back to the front,” said Hartley, acting battalion chief.
He said firefighters quickly started trying to get the fire under control, and then found out the house was unoccupied, abandoned.
“It was boarded up, no utilities on,” Hartley said.
“When you find out the structure is abandoned, you go from an aggressive approach to a defense attack,” said Florence Deputy Fire Chief Tim Anerton. “At that point, there is no property to save. You have to make sure it doesn’t spread to surrounding property.
"The guys did a good job of containing (the fire).”