COLUMBIA (WACH) -- An empty lot was left Saturday on Santee Ave. after an early morning fire burned the home to the ground.
No one was injured in the fire, said Columbia Fire public information officer Brick Lewis. He says no one was living in the home at the time of the fire.
A house next door to the burning house caught fire as well, causing severe damage. The four women living there escaped safely. The Red Cross came to the assistance of those women.
The cost of damages from the fire is still under investigation.
"We're thinking an extimate at this time...maybe $60 [or] $70 thousand dollars for the second home," said Lewis. "The first home is destroyed completely. I don't have a dollar amount for its damages."
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
Lewis says an average of 65% of house fires occur between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. while many people are asleep.
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forWACH