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Jessica Nelms

Firefighters and rescue crews from Westminster, Walhalla, South Union and Oconee EMS responded to a fire at a mobile home at 1757 Dr. Johns Road in Westminster. The fire started around 12:15 p.m. Friday afternoon. The owner Herbert Price, his wife and three children that resided at the home were displaced. Red Cross was also called in to assist.

SENECA — Fires in Westminster and Seneca have forced two families out of their homes, a Red Cross spokesman confirmed Friday.

A family of five, consisting of two adults and three children, in Westminster lost their home to a blaze that completely gutted their house. Herbert Price was the only one in the house when he was awakened by fire around noon. The Red Cross said Price’s father resides in Walhalla, so living accommodations did not have to be made. Westminster, Walhalla and South Union Fire Departments responded to the call.

A second fire in Seneca on Friday afternoon resulted in the Red Cross providing shelter for a family of three at the Jamison Inn in Seneca after a fire at a duplex on Morningside Drive.

Brian Sheriff, with the Seneca Fire Department, said the fire started as a grease fire in the unit’s kitchen.

“We arrived on the scene, and saw smoke showing from the building,” Sheriff said. “Upon entry, they found there was, in fact, a fire in the kitchen. They quickly extinguished the fire, and it did minimal damage to the residence.”

After the fire was extinguished, precautionary measures were taken.

“After that, we cleared the smoke from it and checked the apartment next door,” Sheriff said.

Seneca Fire responded to the call at 2:46 p.m. and were done at the scene by 3:40. The fire was contained in the kitchen during the incident. As was the case in the Westminster blaze, only one individual was home at the time of the fire.

The family in the Morningside Drive fire, consisting of two adults and one child, needs clothes and food after smoke damage claimed much of what was in their residence, according to the Red Cross.