Fire hits medical complex
Hundreds flee doctors' offices, firefighter hurt
BY STEVE REEVES AND BO PETERSON
Of The Post and Courier Staff
Mary Garner saw the smoke wafting past her office window at Trident Executive Village on Monday and first thought it was from someone caving in to an early afternoon nicotine urge.
She quickly learned otherwise when she looked outside and saw smoke billowing from the roof of building 9221. She immediately dialed 911. Within minutes, the building was engulfed in flames as terrified workers and patients ran from the complex of mostly medical-related offices.
An urgent knock at the door of the Coastal Women's Center obstetrician-gynecologist office just before 2 p.m. alarmed both staff members and patients.
"They were scared," office manager Joyce Todd said of the patients. "You can imagine being undressed in a room and someone knocking on the door and saying, 'Get out! Fire!' "
Firefighters were on the scene in minutes but not before the building became fully engulfed in smoke and flames. The firefighters frantically tried to get the blaze under control before it spread to next-door buildings in the complex or nearby Trident Medical Center.
"Our priority was to cut the fire off and keep it from spreading," said North Charleston Fire Chief Al Rissanen.
Firefighters were expected to stay at the scene through the night, putting out spot fires.
The building was almost a total loss, according to Rissanen.
The only injury reported was a firefighter who suffered what Rissanen described as a heat-related injury. The firefighter was not seriously injured.
Hundreds of medical workers and patients were forced to evacuate the complex. They stood in tight little knots in adjacent parking lots or across the street at Charleston Southern University, arms crossed or nervously sipping cold drinks, watching as firefighters sprayed water into the gaping, smoke and flame-filled hole where the roof had been.
Traffic quickly became a nightmare as officers shut down the eastbound lanes of University Parkway. Traffic was still backed up late Monday evening as firefighters doused a few hot spots.
Ward Katsanis nervously watched from across the street as firefighters finally brought the fire under control at about 3:30 p.m. Katsanis, an oncologist, whose office is in the building next to the one that caught fire, was in the middle of a phone call when a firefighter came into his office and told him to get out.
"The first concern was to make sure all of the patients were out of the building," he said. "Right now it looks as if I won't have any fire damage. My main concern at this point is damage from the smoke and water."
Many witnesses said there was no warning from alarms or sprinkler systems. All were amazed that no one was injured, given how fast the blaze spread.
"Within 10 minutes of the first sign of smoke you could see flames coming through the roof," said John Cash, an employee at Ulanji, a local Internet service provider housed in the complex.
"There was lots of smoke and then, 'Whoomp!'" said child psychiatrist Michael Wilcox, whose office window faced the burning building.
Out in the blocked-off street, a myriad of fire hoses snaking around his feet, eye surgeon Griff Brame looked shell-shocked. Every now and then he glanced down at the Mountain Dew in his hand and took a sip.
"Well, there's nothing you can do about it," Brame said with a shrug. Many of his doctor friends had already called, offering him office space and anything else they could do to help.
Brame said the paper medical records for his patients were gone, but other records had been backed-up and kept off-site. "We'll be all right," he said.
Officials are still trying to determine what sparked the blaze.
