North Myrtle Beach fire chief talks beach fire safety after weekend dune fire

NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WMBF) - A quiet Saturday night along the ocean in North Myrtle Beach turned scary as flames scorched dunes outside of Mar Vista Grande Resort.

North Myrtle Beach resident Diane Schroeder told WMBF News she is used to watching people set off fireworks outside of her building, and Saturday night was no different.

“I stood in the window to watch and they were pretty and they were up high and I was enjoying them, and it was just a bunch of kids and I really didn’t think anything about it,” said Schroeder.

But then, she said she saw a spark go into one of the dunes.

“It jumped and it jumped and it jumped and we had four fires and I could hardly believe my eyes,” said Schroeder.

Schroeder called the North Myrtle Beach Fire Department, and crews quickly extinguished the fire.

Luckily, no one was hurt and there wasn’t a lot of damage but, North Myrtle Beach Fire Chief Billy Floyd said setting off fireworks on the beaches is illegal. The rule protects the dunes and the sea oats growing in them.

“You think of the dunes, you see the big piles of sand and people see the sea oats on top and they don’t understand really what those sea oats are,” said Floyd. “The sea oats are a very vital part of that ecosystem, they allow those dunes to stay in place.”

Floyd said dune fires happen a few times a year. He added that even though fireworks aren’t allowed, his department receives calls about them being set off anyway, especially during the summer.

“It’s not necessarily from a firework shooting into the dunes, it’s improper discarding of things when they’re done,” said Floyd. “They take and throw them into a trashcan by the dunes or into the dunes themselves and a lot of those fireworks still have hot embers in them.”

Floyd said the same thing can happen with cigarettes that aren’t completely put out.

For Schroeder, this was a learning experience

“It never occurred to me that there was such a risk of fire with fireworks,” she said. “Now I understand why we can’t have fireworks on the beach.”

Chief Floyd said he could not connect the fireworks incident with the fire, and it is often difficult to find the people who set off fireworks.

Right now, his department is not investigating this fire any further.

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