A stubborn fire Tuesday morning destroyed the home of a Columbia man, but thankfully Jonathan “Moe” Kingston was not at home when his Sumrall Road home caught fire.
The fire was first reported just after midnight in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Members of the Columbia Fire Department were on the scene for more than three-and-a-half hours. Kingston said the fire destroyed the inside of his house.
A second call was received at 6:15 a.m. to dispatch reporting the fire had reignited. When the fire department returned to the scene, the house was engulfed with flames shooting through what was left of the roof.
Between the two fires, the house is a total loss.
Kingston said he had gone to work when the fire flared back up. He said he knew there was nothing he could do until investigators had come to determine the cause of the fire. He said he went to work in hopes of taking his mind off of it. He said he had left the scene about 3:30 a.m. and received a call from his neighbors that the fire was going again.
“It just finished it off, unfortunately,” Kingston said.
Kingston said he bought the house about seven years ago to raise his oldest daughter in Columbia, but he takes comfort in his family being safe.
“Even though it’s tough to lose everything, I have two little girls. To me, as long as I don’t lose either of them, I’ll be fine.” Kingston said.
