SC

Richland Mall Fire: Did Negligence Lead To Conflagration?

Local law firm is investigating …

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Our media outlet exclusively reported yesterday (July 10, 2024) on a fire that broke out at an abandoned mall in Forest Acres, South Carolina – a municipality located just east of downtown Columbia, S.C.

The blaze at Richland Mall – which shut down several key traffic arteries in the area – was contained after approximately two hours by firefighters with the Columbia fire department, however the circumstances surrounding the fire are reportedly the focus of an independent investigation by a Midlands-area law firm.

According to sources familiar with the situation, a group of business owners in Forest Acres have retained the Lugoff, S.C.-based Connell Law Firm to investigate these circumstances – and specifically to look into allegations of negligence involving the owner of the property.

To recap: Richland Mall opened in 1961 and underwent multiple reinventions and name changes over the years. The facility could never overcome its perpetual financial struggles, though, and closed its doors for good on January 1, 2024 when its final remaining tenant, Barnes & Noble, vacated the premises.

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Demolition work began on March 20, 2024 – the first step in a proposed $100 million redevelopment which is reportedly set to include numerous new apartments and a Kroger Marketplace.

Sources familiar with the situation say workers were using a blow torch on steel beams at the property at the time the fire broke out.

“They were in there cutting the beams letting their hot slag fall down,” the source said.

Workers did their best to put out the blaze, we were told, and believed they had succeeded in doing so – but decided to call the fire department out of an abundance of caution.

As we reported, “the crew thought the fire had been extinguished but were obviously mistaken in that assumption.”

When fire department officials arrived, they encountered a “heavy fire coming from a debris pile on one corner of the building,” per the agency’s post on X. According to our sources, they also discovered water service to the property had been disconnected – complicating their efforts to fight the blaze. Firefighters also reportedly experienced initial access issues at the property involving the temporary chain-link construction fencing erected ahead of the demolition.

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A fire hose stretches across multiple lanes of Forest Drive next to Richland Mall on July 10, 2024. (Forest Acres Police Department)

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Thankfully, no one was injured in the fire. As noted in our coverage, though, Forest Drive was rendered impassable for several hours as fire crews battled the blaze in scorching mid-summer temperatures.

Derek Shoemake – a former U.S. attorney – confirmed Connell Law had been retained in connection with the fire but declined to comment further on the matter.

“We have been retained in this matter,” Shoemake told us. “That’s all I’ll say at the moment.”

Count on this media outlet to keep our audience in the loop in the event there are any notable developments related to the official investigation into this conflagration – or the law firm inquiry.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …

(Travis Bell Photography)

Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina and before that he was a bass guitarist and dive bar bouncer. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.

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8 comments

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The Colonel Top fan July 11, 2024 at 6:06 pm

Let’s see, a fire in a building being torn down, where no one was hurt and no property (not intended for demolition) was damaged. What’s the issue?!?

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CongareeCatfish Top fan July 11, 2024 at 6:40 pm

Somebody wants some insurance money….never seen a lawyer hired so fast…..

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Observer (the real one) July 11, 2024 at 10:32 pm

Colonel and Congaree Catfish; exactly what I was thinking, guys. Place is being demolished and catches fire. So tf what?

Is that law firm the one that current state Legislator and wannabe Kershaw County Council Chairman owns? Dude sounds like a career politician in the making. Wants his grubby fingers in all the pies.

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Squishy123 (the original) July 11, 2024 at 7:01 pm

Who the fuck uses the term “blow torch”? It’s a cutting torch. Do you know where you buy a “blow torch”… at an antique store. It’s the kind of torch you see in a Charlie Chaplin film.

So now every time a business gets interrupted for two hours it’s time to file a lawsuit? Is Dick Harpootlian involved?

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204022272 Top fan July 11, 2024 at 11:00 pm

That used to be a nice mall

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Observer (the real one) July 12, 2024 at 7:23 am

I remember the old Richland Mall from the early 60’s. Pet-a-rama had all kind of cool animals, including a red squirrel. I had a pet lizard that came from there.

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You're Kidding, Right? July 12, 2024 at 8:00 am

Used to be? Like what, 40 years ago? It was a dying before the year 2000.

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The Colonel Top fan July 12, 2024 at 10:14 am

I owned a house about two blocks from the mall in ’93, even then, it was already beginning to show signs of financial struggles. Rather than stores that midlands folks would buy from, the “fashion mall” focused on high end stores (Bonwit Teller, Parisians) that no one bought from (Bombay Furniture is the one that sticks in my mind, they lasted about six months). The Department store wars in the ’80s killed Bonwit and then Parisians closed and then Dillards (who took over from Bonwit) and it was very quickly downhill from there, Belk (which started as JB White from the original ’60s era mall) held on until the bitter end, but they were losing money for the last several years. The Barnes and Nobles was the last open store and they’ve moved out to the Target shopping center on Garner’s Ferry

When it was the new “Fashion Mall”, it was a very nice place, but I liked the old 60’s era open mall that preceded it much better. Milk shake from Zesto’s across the street, tin soldiers from the toy store, what more could you ask for!

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