Fire safety coming

After the recent fires in rental properties in Charleston and Ocean Isle Beach, officials in Hilton Head are expected to make some changes to building codes. On Hilton Head, only large buildings -- those bigger than 10,000 square feet -- are required to have sprinkler systems, Fire Chief Tom Fieldstead said.


The Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce estimates the island has 6,000 vacation homes and villas -- buildings that are constructed like the one in Ocean Isle Beach that burned last weekend, Fieldstead said.