GROVER — Firefighters from two states teamed up Thursday to battle a raging fire that started about 5 p.m. and continued after sunset.
At least six agencies, rescue squads included, crowded around the old Minette Mill building surrounded by South Main, Cherry and Oak streets in Grover.
"It was being used as a storage facility," Cleveland County fire inspector Bobby Horton said about the old mill building.
Two employees were working inside the building before the fire started, Horton said. No injuries were immediately reported.
Emergency responders from Cleveland County and upstate South Carolina worked to control the flames.
Grover Volunteer Fire Department officials were unavailable for comment late Thursday as crews continued to battle the blaze. The cause of the fire was still unknown as of press time.
‘Flames were coming
out of the window’
The smell of drenched, charred debris lingered on two firefighters who rested at the scene. Sweat cascaded down their faces.
Andy Hovis and Tiffany Maxwell were inside their Maple Avenue home before firefighters arrived.
"I came outside and flames were coming out of the window," Hovis said.
First responders redirected traffic and blocked road entrances in the area around the burning mill.
Neighbors peeked out of their homes. Some recorded the billowing smoke on their phones. Gallons of water from fire trucks streamed down the paved streets.
Many onlookers said the mill housed furniture and hay.
Grover Police officers sprayed a fire extinguisher at the involved fire moments before firefighters’ arrival, Grover Police Chief Eric Buff said.
Thick puffs of smoke towered over the tree lines.
A woman, her fiancé and 1-year-old son were asleep nearby when the fire broke out.
‘I was told to get out’
Kings Mountain High School student Breann Harris, 18, heard banging on the side of her Mulberry Road home, which sits only a few feet away from the old mill.
Her son, Dayson, was resting along with her fiancé, Justin Fite.
"I was told to get out because the mill was on fire," she said. "I didn’t believe him."
She quickly layered Dayson in clothes and a jacket. Socks covered his feet.
She walked outside. She nearly collapsed.
"I broke down," Harris remembered. "It looked like Grover was in flames. You could’ve cracked an egg and cooked it because it was so hot."
But her home remained unscathed.
‘Big thanks to them’
Harris peered behind a string of yellow "caution" tape wrapped around trees and mailboxes.
Fire administrators bellowed commands that echoed through speakers. Ladder trucks hoisted firefighters into the air. They doused the old mill roof’s flames. Hidden "hot spots" were exposed as firefighters shifted debris.
Harris looked on at the heavy smoke with family, including her mother and father. Her landlord gave her money to help pay for a hotel. Her phone rang continuously with messages from friends.
"I felt better about everything when I saw the fire departments. Big thanks to them. We wouldn’t have anything without them," Harris said.
Reach reporter Alicia Banks at 704-669-3338, email at abanks@shelbystar.com and follow on Twitter @TheStarAlicia.