GEORGETOWN -- A fire destroyed the administrative offices and part of the manufacturing facility of Screen Tight, a porch screen and vinyl factory just south of Georgetown on U.S. 17.
The factory employs more than 100 workers and is owned by Guerry Green, interim chairman of the Santee Cooper utility's board of directors.
The blaze began in an office Saturday morning and spread quickly through the building, producing a black plume of smoke that could be seen for miles, according to Georgetown County emergency services. The cause of the fire was unknown.
About 50 to 60 employees were working in the building Saturday and escaped safely, Green said.
Fire crews blocked the fire from spreading to facilities at the back of the 10-acre property that are used to produce vinyl siding and other vinyl products, county Emergency Services Director Mike Mock said. Fire crews tapped into waterlines across U.S. 17, and the hose forced traffic to be diverted throughout the day.
Georgetown resident Elaine Torres sat on the grass at the factory Saturday, watching as firefighters sprayed water onto the factory where her daughter and ex-husband work.
"I don't know what she is going to do," Torres said. "They were talking about setting up a trailer where they could work."
Green said it is likely the company will put mobile offices on the property to keep employees working.
"We'll figure out something for them," he said.
An investigation is under way and it probably will be several days before fire officials have any answers to how the blaze started, officials said.
By early afternoon, only a smoking shell of twisted and charred metal remained of the administrative building, which housed facilities used to produce Green's patented porch screens.
"There was a breezeway, and they were able to stop it before it traveled to the other buildings," Mock said.
Green stood beside a fire engine as crews sprayed water on the wreckage of the building.
"This building is a total loss," he said as he held his arms around his wife and child.
The Screen Tight facility sits just off U.S. 17 and was built in 1998 when the company expanded from a St. James Street building.
Green, a former carpenter, designed the Screen Tight screens and built the company from a handful of employees in 1991 to more than 100 employees this year.
On Tuesday, the state Senate will consider confirming Green as the new chairman of the Santee Cooper board of directors, which oversees the $5 billion utility.
He has served as a board member for two years and was nominated to the top post by Gov. Mark Sanford in December after Sanford fired Graham Edwards.
Green's factory has become a major employer in the Georgetown area.
Screen Tight added 70 new jobs at the factory in April 2004 after acquiring an Arizona company and its industrial technology.
Mock said crews likely would spend the night and morning at the factory keeping watch on the fire, which was feeding off of various chemicals used in the manufacturing process.
