Agents investigate cause of fire that destroyed judge’s home on South Carolina island
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — State investigators are trying to find the cause of a fire that destroyed a judge’s home on a South Carolina island.
The Saturday blaze nearly burned to the ground the house linked through property records to Circuit Judge Diane Goodstein on a remote part of Edisto Island, authorities said.
The State Law Enforcement Division confirmed Monday it is investigating the fire but has released no other details about a possible cause or the people in the home.
Local law enforcement is providing extra patrols and security as state agents investigate, Chief Justice John Kittredge said in a statement.
Three people were hurt in the blaze and one of them was taken by helicopter to the Medical University of South Carolina, according to Colleton County Fire-Rescue. The names of the people hurt were not released.
The house’s first floor is elevated from the ground and the injured had to jump to the ground. Several then had to be rescued by kayaks from the swampy back yard, the St. Paul’s Fire District said in a statement on social media.
Video from the fire department showed the home fully engulfed in flames. Drone photos taken over the scene later showed only a few charred wooden supports standing amid the blackened rubble.
Goodstein has been a state judge for 27 years, handling thousands of cases.
The General Assembly elects judges in South Carolina and when Goodstein last ran for her seat in 2022, the Judicial Merit Screening Commission noted her sterling reputation and temperament and called her as asset to the state.
Nearly two decades ago, Goodstein presided over a civil lawsuit that led to a $12 million settlement between victims of sexual abuse and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston.
She also presided in 2014 over a property dispute trial between the national Episcopal Church and the breakaway Diocese of South Carolina which spilt over theological differences, including the authority of Scripture and the ordination of gays.
Last month, Goodstein blocked the Election Commission in South Carolina from releasing voter data requested by the U.S. Department of Justice. Her restraining order was lifted about a week later by the state Supreme Court who said Goodstein failed to detail if the voter who sued would suffer irreparable harm or proved she was likely to win the suit on the merits.
State election officials said they are still working on an agreement with federal officials to make sure the privacy of the voter data is protected.