Fire closes St. Helena gas station, Sea Island Parkway

An apparent electrical fire at a St. Helena Island gas station Saturday afternoon led to the closure of Sea Island Parkway for about two hours as firefighters dealt with the blaze.

The Lady's Island-St. Helena Fire District responded to the fire around 3 p.m. and spotted heavy smoke billowing from the building's eaves, according to a district press release.

Workers at the Exxon gas station on the 1700 block of Sea Island Parkway called 911 after noticing smoke and sparks coming from the electrical panel box, according to the release.

On arrival, firefighter John Norton reported hearing, "loud, repeated pops almost like a machine gun" that came from the panel box in the rear of the structure, according to the release.

There were no injuries.

Fire district spokesman Lee Levesque said the fire forced the business to close.

Levesque said the cause of the fire is under investigation.