‘You can hear this thing burn’: What else the viral video captures as judge Diane Goodstein’s waterfront home is engulfed in flames

A massive fire tore through the waterfront home of South Carolina Circuit Court Judge Diane Goodstein and her husband, former Democratic state senator Arnold Goodstein, on Saturday, October 4, leaving three people hospitalized, according to officials and multiple reports. The blaze broke out around midday at the couple’s Edisto Beach residence, sending thick black smoke billowing into the sky. Arnold Goodstein was reportedly forced to jump from the first floor to escape the flames and was airlifted to the Medical University of South Carolina with multiple fractures, The Post and Courier reported.

Judge Goodstein was the only member of the family not at home when the fire erupted, FITSNews reported. Two other family members were rescued by emergency workers using kayaks as the house became engulfed, according to both The Post and Courier and FITSNews.

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What the video of the Judge Diane Goodstein’s house burning shows

An 18‑second video, posted by an X user, captured the Edisto Beach house engulfed in flames. Filmed through a car window, the clip opens with a view of a “Catch and Release” signboard before panning across a waterbody toward the burning home. Thick black smoke billowed upward as firefighter sirens blared in the background. The videographer could be heard saying, “You can hear this thing burn,” as the camera focused on the house completely consumed by fire.

Debate over the source of the fire

Following the incident, social media users began speculating about what may have caused the blaze. One X user suggested that propane could have been involved, writing, “Expensive vacation home for the rich in a very rural area. Arson or not, the explosion was likely propane.”

The user went on to explain, “Because they aren’t there that often, propane probably leaked and accumulated in the lower parts of the home close to the floor. The gas will be unseen and it will exhibit no detectable odor unless they put their nose to the floor. Most people with vacation homes with propane appliances do not install propane sensors…which have to be installed near the floor.”

They added, “And no, a CO₂ sensor installed on the ceiling will not likely detect it in time. Anyhow, once the propane gas rises up to touch any spark, or they turn something on that exhibits a flame or spark, boom.” Another user wrote more cryptically, “Propane leak or Italian Frogmen.”