At approximately 17:30 hours on Wednesday, November 18th, the Laurinburg Fire Department was dispatched for a brush fire with structures endangered on highway 401 in Scotland County. While engine 11 was en route, Engineer Chad Donaldson could see a plume  of black smoke and immediately called back to central for more support. Calls to 911 poured in which then confirmed it was not a brush fire but a warehouse fire.
“It was the largest fire I have ever responded to in my 10 year career,” Donaldson said.
He said he knew it had to be something big as he was two miles out. He knew then that a commercial building was likely on fire.
When Donaldson arrived, he rushed over to one end of the warehouse to keep it from spreading to nearby woods which divided the warehouse and a residential area.
Laurinburg Fire Chief Harold Smith arrived soon after Donaldson and took command of the scene.
Close to 75 firefighters spent 10 hours battling the blaze and putting out hot spots throughout the warehouse.
At around 0300 hours, the fire was contained highway 401 was finally reopened.
At 0730 hours, the Laurinburg Fire Department went back out to the warehouse for a rekindle and spent around 4 hours. Equipment was brought in to move the walls of the warehouse so that firefighters could get closer to the existing hot spots.
The fire chief said that, while the facility appeared to be a single building from the street, it was actually two warehouses adjoined by a 30 ft. corridor.

One warehouse was completely destroyed while the other took significant damage, Smith said. He also said that the warehouse contained various industrial products like paper and plastic.
Smith said the cause was as of yet unknown, but the State Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Scotland County Sheriff’s Department are investigating. All losses of this magnitude are investigated
The fire took a toll on Donaldson on the nearly 75 firefighters who arrived at the scene.

“It is definitely both a physical and mental challenge,” Donaldson said.

The Laurinburg engineer said it was especially draining as many were still tired from fighting the Wagram fire on Tuesday night and his shift was about to retire for the night when the call came in.
The years of training paid off for all departments in Scotland, Robeson and Marlboro Counties.
The fire departments that responded included:
City of Laurinburg, Stewartsville, Laurel Hill, Wagram, Gibson, Queheel and McColl. Also on the scene were the Scotland County Rescue Squad, Scotland Emergency Services, American Red Cross, Scotland County Sheriff’s Department and the Laurinburg Police Department.

Photos: Anne Griffin

Click here for more photos on this fire taken by Anne Griffin.