Flames roar back to life 2 weeks after structure burned

By TIM GULLA Ledger Staff Writer tim@gaffneyledger.com Flames rekindled Monday afternoon a full two weeks after a massive fire gutted an East Robinson Street business in Gaffney. The Gaffney Fire Department responded in full force Monday afternoon when flames rose skyward and smoke began billowing from the former Sco-Mar Textiles Outlet. The building initially burned June 16 and an investigation by the Gaffney Police Department and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division led to an arson charge against a 52-year-old Gaffney man, who allegedly admitted to police investigators that he set the fire. While Gaffney Police and SLED came back to the scene Monday afternoon, Gaffney Fire Chief Nathan Ellis said they all agreed Monday afternoon's fire was not suspicious. "At this point we believe it's nothing more than a rekindle," Ellis said. "The bales of cloth and material were probably still smoldering. The humidity is low and the winds are up. It has all the makings for a fire." A contingent of firefighters were expected to remain on the scene for hours to continue dousing the burned-out structure and the thick bales of cloth remaining inside. Ellis said he would try to keep manpower at the scene to a minimum and said he would be speaking with city and code enforcement officials to press for cleanup of the property by the property owner. "I'm afraid until we get this property cleaned up it's going to continue to happen," Ellis said. Bystanders pinpointed the time of the flare-up as between noon and 1 p.m. One man said the building had not been showing any signs of smoke when he left a nearby business for lunch around noon.