State forestry crews were back at work Thursday on a woods fire that flared up Wednesday along Highway 31. Forestry officials it's fully contained now, but the fire got a little too close for comfort for some homeowners.
Thursday, three forestry tractor plows were deep in the woods, digging fire breaks and putting out hot spots. Meanwhile, people who live behind the torched area had flashbacks to the fire that destroyed many homes just a couple of months ago.
Landscaper Ernest Hauger doesn't think of himself as a hero, but folks in Plantation Point say he certainly did a good deed Wednesday. With smoke and flames rising in the woods nearby, Hauger quickly directed his crew to start hosing down all the lawns and homes on Wacobee Drive.
Hauger says he was just protecting his livelihood. "I do a lot of work in this neighborhood and a house burns down, I'm losing a lawn, so it was just the right thing to do at the time."
Homeowners on Wacobee were sweating it out, remembering the Horry County wildfire that destroyed nearly 80 homes a couple of months ago. Marilyn Ruedy owns a home in Plantation Lakes.
She said, "We were thinking of the fire from April and so it made us a little more concerned, because we realized how potentially dangerous this could be."
Rich Romanelli wetted down his lawn, flower beds and roof, hoping his house wouldn't suffer the same fate as those in North Myrtle Beach in April.
"You saw that up in Barefoot, and you really had sympathy for those people, but this is across the road and all of a sudden it's in my back yard, you know, so we were concerned about it," he said.
State forestry officials say, with dry conditions and a holiday coming that's popular for fireworks, their crews will keep a close eye on the fire over the weekend, and so will folks on Wacobee Drive.
Horry County Fire-Rescue says they'll keep an eye on it over the weekend as well.
Officials say a blown tire on Highway 31 produced sparks that started the fire. It damaged two to three acres of woods.
