Town chief says fire at I'On home arsonBlaze was set in family's car, destroyed residence By Glenn Smith (Contact)
The Post and Courier
Sunday, October 5, 2008
MOUNT PLEASANT — Early on the morning of Sept. 19, Jenny Laurencelle woke to the sound of a neighbor pounding on the door of her I'On home and an eerie orange glow illuminating the darkness. She spotted flames outside in the carport and screamed to rouse her husband, Addie, and their four young children, sound asleep in their bedrooms. They rushed out the door as flames raced inside. "The scary thing was how fast it went from the car to moving inside house," Jenny Laurencelle recalled. "By the time my husband came flying down the stairs, it was a raging inferno. We just got out." Compounding their fears is what investigators have learned since: The blaze was deliberately set. Mount Pleasant Fire Chief Herb Williams confirmed last week that arson is to blame for the blaze that destroyed the Laurencelles' two-story home at 38 Fernandina St. Someone set the fire in the family's sport utility vehicle, and it spread from there, authorities said. Fire investigators are working with police detectives to find the culprit. Police Chief Harry Sewell declined to discuss specifics on the ongoing probe but said, "We are working this case as hard as we possibly can." The episode, and the lack of an arrest, has some this upscale neighborhood on edge. The sprawling I'On subdivision is a "neo-traditional" community of some 680 homes, where cocktail parties and supper circles are far more commonplace than hot-button crimes. "The neighborhood is basically crime-free, so this has everyone frightened," Laurencelle said. The fire started around 1:15 a.m., nearly two hours after the Laurencelles and their children — ages 1, 4, 6 and 7 — turned in for the night. They might not have escaped had a neighbor not spotted the flames and come running to wake them. The neighbor heard a car alarm and looked outside to spot flames chewing through the Laurencelles' Toyota Sequoia. He banged on the door and helped shuttle the dazed family outside as flames crawled up the carport and danced across the roof line into the 4,200-square-foot home. Another neighbor who lives nearby told police he jumped out of bed after hearing an explosion. He looked out the window and saw a man with a flashlight running through an alley beside his home. The home- owner then spotted flames shooting from the home. The fire was so intense people on the Ravenel Bridge could see it burning. The blaze took firefighters some 90 minutes to bring under control. Yellow police tape still surrounds the charred home, its blackened timbers poking from scorched earth amid tidy rows of stylish houses. On a recent afternoon, Jenny Laurencelle and her husband picked through the ruins of the home where they had lived for nearly five years. Wearing rubber gloves and gauzy shoe coverings, they piled shirts, pants and whatever other meager items they could salvage on a porch railing. For now, they are living in hotels, their five-bedroom home beyond repair. Jenny Laurencelle wants to see the firebug brought to justice for torching her home. She just cannot fathom how someone could put her family in such jeopardy. "It's really creepy," she said. "Obviously, this is one sick individual." Anyone with information on the fire can call Crime Stoppers at 554-1111. Reach Glenn Smith at 937-5556 or gsmith@postand courier.com. |
Article tools |
|
Notice about comments: Charleston.net is pleased to offer readers the ability to comment on stories. We expect our readers to engage in lively, yet civil discourse. Charleston.net does not edit user submitted statements and we cannot promise that readers will not occasionally find offensive or inaccurate comments posted in the comments area. Responsibility for the statements posted lies with the person submitting the comment, not charleston.net. If you find a comment that is objectionable, please click "suggest removal" and we will review it for possible removal. Please be reminded, however, that in accordance with our Terms of Use and federal law, we are under no obligation to remove any third party comments posted on our website. Full terms and conditions can be read here. |
Comments
This article has 22 comment(s)
Posted by Neponset on October 5, 2008 at 8:14 a.m. (Suggest removal)
It would be interesting to know what theories the police are working. My theories run to: 1. Troubled teen in the neighborhood or 2. Someone outside the area with social class issues.
Posted by geekboy on October 5, 2008 at 9:53 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Ok, I'll bite: "I'On home" ?????
Posted by Rggr on October 5, 2008 at 9:55 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I guess the troubled teen.
Posted by DanniD on October 5, 2008 at 10:26 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I guess the teen too....probably was meant to be some sort of prank that got way out of control.
Posted by anon on October 5, 2008 at 12:11 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I think it's more than a teenage prank. It sounds like revenge. Whoever it was went specifically after the car. It could have been an extended case of road rage. Maybe they ticked someone off and they followed them home and returned later for payback. Then again, maybe there is a lot more to this story that isn't being told.
Posted by metallic on October 5, 2008 at 12:27 p.m. (Suggest removal)
If constructed to code, there should have been an effective firewall between the carport area and house.
This comment concerns me: "The scary thing was how fast it went from the car to moving inside house," Jenny Laurencelle recalled. "By the time my husband came flying down the stairs, it was a raging inferno. We just got out."
There was either construction defects -- i.e. lack of an effective firewall between the carport area and living space of the house -- or something else was done to cause the fire to spread rapidly throughout the house.
Posted by Neponset on October 5, 2008 at 12:58 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Met
There is no defense against a fire bug - I feel certain that these houses were built to the building code ie new and high end. Fire walls are for multi unit construction, although the houses are rather closely spaces.
Posted by kontact on October 5, 2008 at 5:37 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Wake Up People-This sounds like a case of family not being able to afford their lifestyle anymore and taking drastic measures to make it.I wouldnt be surprised if the family income situation had changed due to the economy.I promise this is something that the authorities will investigate. What yall think cause they live in I'On that it aint tru? We will see.Hopefully thats not the case but I wouldn t be surprised at all. Just dont sound right.Alarm goes off cause car is on fire? They tlit the car onfire and turned the alarm on so the neighbors would feel like they saved them.GUILTY.WOW!!
Posted by lexylady on October 5, 2008 at 6:45 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Kontact, You could be right, but one of the neighbors did see someone running from the house at the time of the fire.
Posted by Neponset on October 5, 2008 at 7:17 p.m. (Suggest removal)
kon
Yes, this also is a posibility - wonder if this house was for sale, as many houses in that area are - if you can't sell it, burn it down and collect the insurance. I am sure a lot of that is going on at this time. The peron of interest running down the alley could have been the home owner. You can bet the insurance co. will be all over this incident.
Posted by anon on October 5, 2008 at 7:18 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Kontact, the thought did cross my mind that it could be a foreclosure situation too. A 4,200 sq ft home in I'on had to have cost a pretty penny. To think that someone would take such a risk with 4 small kids in the house though is inconceivable. If they are in financial arrears that is going to make them look very suspicious.
Posted by Slick50 on October 5, 2008 at 7:25 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I was kinda curious how you could spend so much money for such a large house and only get a crappy carport.
Posted by southbel on October 5, 2008 at 10 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Out of curiousity, I did look the family's name up on the court records, and the wife was a defendant in an assault and libel civil case that was recently dismissed. But no foreclosure. No criminal either.
I am not going to surmise what I think could have happened here but that is quite frightening for those four small young children.
Posted by whatelseisthere on October 6, 2008 at 8:38 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Holy Moly! Did anyone read the complaint vs. Laurencelle? There lies the answer.
Posted by Neponset on October 6, 2008 at 8:43 a.m. (Suggest removal)
What
Enlighten us.
Posted by whatelseisthere on October 6, 2008 at 9:11 a.m. (Suggest removal)
www3.charlestoncounty.org
click through to get to the civil lawsuite.
type in Laurencelle for the defendant and you will get the lawsuit. Wowzer!
Posted by nativecharlestongirl on October 6, 2008 at 9:34 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Can't get through to see what the lawsuit says about this person however I live next to I'ON and from the rumor mill there is a WHOLE lot more to this story. And it doesn't include fraud for insurance or punk teenagers. It seems to be a case of revenge.... Who knows though the rumor mill has been know to be wrong, but usually that is just on the details....
Posted by RTC on October 6, 2008 at 10:17 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I have to wonder if any of this is related to their social club activities. It sure has caused a rise in divorces in I'on.
I would hate to think that someone would endanger innocent children because of their adult activities.
Posted by Neponset on October 6, 2008 at 10:35 a.m. (Suggest removal)
RTC
Interesting - perhaps we have another theory for the person who set the fire, which brings us to four. I wish I could access the court documents, but I am tech challenged.
Posted by blaze on October 6, 2008 at 11:44 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I'On = Peyton Place.
Posted by SeaSaw on October 6, 2008 at 12:25 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I wonder if the adjustable rate interest only mortgage that was taken out 5/16/08, with a balance of $1,100,000 has anything to do with it?
http://www2.charlestoncounty.org/
Posted by rollo on October 6, 2008 at 11:24 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Type "X" fire rated wallboard is standard building code for attached garage structures in Chas County. Absent extremely unusual circumstances (large amounts of kerosene, or large holes in the type "X", there should be a firewall of @ 1 hour. This sounds like a case of abundant application of a high heat accelerant. Other explanation, leaky LP/Nat Gas connector on the garage water heater installation. I don't know that Nat Gas is available in/@ I'on, And I doubt many residents bother with LP. Except for the 'skeeter traps and BBQs anyway.