House fire at 403 Brady Road

Sumter County fire department was dispatched at 12:53 pm to a house fire at 403 Brady Road. While the building appeared intact from the outside, the inside was less unaffected. The home owner, Johnny Merritt, shared his experiences. “I was, you know, in the rest room, and I heard something fell.” He mentioned stepping out of the restroom and seeing smoke all down the hall. Merritt told how he grabbed important papers, keys, and some clothes, and was waiting on Red Cross to arrive.

Fire Chief Jerry Harmon also commented. “We got a good, quick knockdown on the fire and was able to get it under control within about 15-20 minutes.”

Harmon detailed how their closest hydrant was down the road, telling how they had operated. “They’ll fill up at the hydrant, come back, and dump their water again, it’s just a cycle.” Harmon explained how they use the drop tank, referring to a large, yellow, square pool. “When they pulled up, they dropped that in the road, dropped 3,000 gallons in it, and went back to town to get more water. That’s how they keep that engine supplied.”

He told how the heat took its toll on the firefighters. “Now only are we battling the hot fire, but we’re battling the heat. [We] got two firefighters who had to be checked out for heat related injuries.”

Harmon mentioned the affected areas of the building. “They knew when they made their initial attack that it was in the attic. They got in and removed the sheet rock, as soon the sheetrock came down the fire came down with it.”

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