Who Is Diane Goodstein? $1.5 Million Beachfront House of South Carolina Judge Burned to Ground as Former Senator Husband Rushed to Hospital

A massive fire tore through the beachfront house of a South Carolina judge and her husband, a former Democratic senator, on Saturday, sending three people to the hospital, according to officials and media reports. Police have launched an investigation after flames engulfed the Edisto Beach home of Circuit Court Judge Diane Goodstein, 69.

Her family, including her husband, former state senator Arnold Goodstein, was rushed to the hospital for treatment. They are currently recovering, according to reports. The couple’s three-story home — a four-bedroom, four-bath property valued at about $1.15 million — was completely consumed by fire around 11:30 a.m. on Saturday. Authorities are now working to determine what caused the blaze.

Burnt to Ashes

Local resident Robby Borden captured the massive fire on video using his drone. Thick smoke could be seen pouring from the house as flames engulfed all three stories. While Goodstein wasn’t at home when the fire broke out, sources told FITSNews that several members of her family were inside.

Arnold Goodstein and two others were rescued from a marshy, isolated area behind the three-story home by neighbors and paramedics, local resident Tom Peterson told reporters.

Emergency responders reportedly had to use kayaks to reach the individuals, according to the St. Paul’s Fire District.

One person was airlifted to the Medical University of South Carolina, while the other two occupants — whose identities haven’t been revealed — were transported by ground, according to Capt. KC Campbell of the Colleton County Fire Rescue.

Sources close to Goodstein’s family told FITSNews that Arnold Goodstein was airlifted after suffering multiple fractures to his hips, legs, and feet while escaping the four-bedroom, four-bath home.

South Carolina Chief Justice John Kittredge described the incident as stemming from an “apparent explosion.”

“Judge Goodstein was walking on the beach when the fire started. Her husband, Arnie, was in the house with children and perhaps grandchildren. The family had to escape by jumping from a window or balcony. I’m told there were injuries from the fall, such as broken legs,” he said.

Narrow Escape

Diane Goodstein, 69, was out walking her dogs on a beach when flames engulfed her home in the lush, gated Jeremy Cay community, resident Tom Peterson told The New York Post and Courier. The current condition of all three people who escaped the fire is still unclear.

A native of South Carolina, Goodstein was first elected to the bench in May 1998 and has served continuously since, according to her official biography.

Her husband, Arnold Goodstein, served multiple terms in both the South Carolina House and Senate during the 1970s as a Democrat representing Charleston County, public records show, The Nerve reported.

Arnold Goodstein also ran Summerville Homes, a major home-building company that shut down in 2008 and later filed for $61 million in bankruptcy, according to The Nerve.

The couple has two children, Arnold Samuel Goodstein II and Eve Schafer Goodstein, according to Judge Goodstein’s biography.

The State Law Enforcement Division is currently investigating the fire, though the cause of the devastating blaze that destroyed the property remains unclear, the outlet reported.