Two years after a fire destroyed the House of Pizza in Clinton, South Carolina, the owners have filed a lawsuit against the City of Clinton and Laurens County, pointing to several examples of alleged negligence.
Fire ripped through the House of Pizza on August 27, 2024, destroying the restaurant and several adjacent buildings. The pizzeria reopened in a different building in May 2025, with a new neon sign unveiled in mid-December of last year.
But the fire of 2024 has not been forgotten. A lawsuit filed on August 26 of this year points to issues that allegedly hindered firefighters’ efforts to extinguish the fire and protect the buildings.
“There were a couple of simple fixes that would have saved this historic area of Clinton and would have saved this family and business, and they weren’t working,” attorney Josh Kendrick told WYFF 4.
The fire was reportedly called in at around 4:55 p.m., but, according to the lawsuit, electrical lines serving the building were not shut off until 5:18 p.m. During that 23-minute window, firefighters couldn’t safely use water or begin their fire attack due to the live power lines. That delay allegedly allowed the flames to spread throughout the building, the lawsuit claims.
The lawsuit further alleges that the city lacks an emergency shutoff switch for electric service and that the sole employee who knew how to shut off the power had been allowed to leave work early that day.
It also claims the city’s 911 dispatch failed to promptly transmit the request to shut off the power lines and to follow protocols for notifying the electric department of the fire. Additionally, the lawsuit alleges that the city was negligent in its duty to properly inspect, maintain, repair and operate its fire hydrants and water lines, resulting in a lack of adequate water and pressure as the firefighters worked to put out the fire.
According to media reports, House of Pizza Clinton is seeking a jury trial and monetary damages that will be determined in the trial.
Kendrick said his clients “were [put] out of business, being completely destroyed. They lost an incredible amount of equipment. A lot of people don’t have any idea how much investment goes into a restaurant. We have a really big loss to a local business, but we also have an opportunity for a local government to maybe improve the way they protect the businesses that are inside their city limits.”
