VIDEO: Myrtle Beach crews investigating after dunes fire

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW) — Myrtle Beach crews are working to confirm what sparked a fire on the dunes early Friday morning at the North Shore Resort on 75th Avenue North.

A witness said he saw people at the resort setting off fireworks. One tipped over, causing the dune to go up in flames.

Multiple other people who were in the area during the time of the fire also suspected a firework sparked the flame.

In a video of the dune fire obtained by News13, you can see the wind quickly intensifying the blaze. At one point during the video, you can see people grabbing a cone and attempting to douse the flames with water.

The four-minute long video, which is attached above, starts at 12:19 a.m. Toward the end of the video is when you see the Myrtle Beach Fire Department arriving and extinguishing the fire within minutes to prevent further damage and spread.

Within Myrtle Beach city limits, people can set off fireworks until 12:30 a.m. on July 4th. However, it’s prohibited from setting fireworks near the beach or near dunes. Those that violate these protocols face a fine of $250 for the first offense and $500 for the second.

“They were still shooting the fireworks off at midnight last night. So, I’m thinking about fireworks. We have a great nephew with us who is very sound sensitive, so they were really bothering him last night,” Nina Pierce, who is visiting from Virginia, said. “But the firemen did really respond really fast. Very glad it wasn’t worse. I’m glad it wasn’t a building.”

A significant section of the dunes on one side of the boardwalk are heavily blackened and charred. In some spots, the sand itself appears to be scorched.

“We were already in bed at about midnight, I think it was, and I smelled smoke. And I told my husband and my little great nephew that it’s smoking. They’re like, ‘No, it’s a firework.’ I’m like, ‘No, it’s smoke,'” Pierce said. “So, I got up and said, ‘it’s coming from the front door.’ I thought maybe something was burning in the kitchen, [I] open the front door, and you could see nothing but smoke. I went back in and I said, ‘get your shoes and socks on, whatever. Let’s go. We gotta get out of here.’

“And then we opened the front door, the smoke came all the way through the the place. And then we came out to the balcony and we saw that the fire truck was already here. They had already put it out,” she continued. “So, that was fast. My husband said that was really fast for them to come and go. But we were, you know, we are already out. We didn’t take anything with us.”

A spokesperson for the Myrtle Beach Fire Department said they expect to share more information by next week.

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Savannah Denton joined News 13 in July 2023 as a reporter and producer. Savannah is from Atlanta, Georgia, and is a graduate of the University of Alabama. Follow Savannah on X, formerly Twitter, and read more of her work here .

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