NORTH MYRTLE BEACH -- New dashboard camera video obtained by News 13 from the City of North Myrtle Beach shows embers flying into Barefoot Resort more than an hour before officers evacuated residents during the wildfires on April 23.
The video may contradict previous statements made by North Myrtle Beach public officials.
The video, recorded on April 23 at 12:46 a.m. shows Lance Cpl. Bob Rogers pulling over on the shoulder of Water Tower Road.
On the video, embers can be seen soaring through the air, towards Barefoot.
North Myrtle Beach Fire Marshal Les Williamson says fire brands (embers) ignited the fire that destroyed more than 75 homes in Barefoot.
In June, North Myrtle Public Safety Director William Bailey told News 13 that officers saw the embers and then took action.
“Until it crossed 22, and they started seeing those embers fly up to a mile away, cause' I know these guys have never seen anything occur like embers flying through the air, flying fire, they had no idea whatsoever that it was going to turn or effect barefoot landing. But when these embers started flying, and the winds shifted, it was very apparent that they had to worry about a lot of things other than the people who lived in the county on Water Tower Road. And that's when they took action,” said Bailey.
However, video also obtained through the Freedom Information Act shows officers did not begin evacuating Barefoot residents until 1:50 a.m., one hour and three minutes after officers first saw the embers, after the fire jumped.
Barefoot resident Mike Ragusa has been questioning the timing of the evacuation since the fires ripped through Barefoot.
Ragusa says he was shocked when he saw the video of the embers and is upset the City of North Myrtle Beach did not provide the video of the embers flying in the first FOIA request he made for all wildfire footage in May.
“I was very specific on my first Freedom of Information Act request that I wanted all dash cam videos. They failed to provide us with that. I don't know why, unless they were trying to hide something and embers flying into barefoot an hour before the fire jumped is very significant thing. Most of the houses caught on fire due to flying embers,” said Ragusa.
Ragusa says because this video was withheld, he thinks there may be other video that North Myrtle Beach city officials are also covering up.
News 13 has tried calling Director Bailey several times to find out why the video of the embers was not included in Ragusa’s and our first request for all of the wildfire video from April 22-23.
Director Bailey has not returned our calls and a city spokesperson told us he had no comment.
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