The Horry County wildfire destroyed 70 homes in the Barefoot Resort community in North Myrtle Beach, four weeks later the cleanup continues.
Shortly after the fire, North Myrtle Beach Mayor Marilyn Hatley asked that a task force be formed to discuss how the fire was handled.
The task force met Thursday at Premier Resort’s Lakeside Conference Center, at Barefoot Resort.
The Highway 31 wildfire task force consists of various community members from Barefoot Resort, North Myrtle Beach city leaders, the South Carolina Forestry Commission, and Horry County leaders.
The briefing was open first to members of the media and then the rest of the community and it was called, “Understanding South Carolina’s worst wildland urban interface fire.”
North Myrtle Beach Public Information office Nicole Aiello said task force members hosted the meeting to show people what happened, when it happened, and answer questions about what is now known as the second largest wildfire in South Carolina's history. Aiello said, "The way that this fire acted compared to fires that we've had in this area in the past was completely different, the weather that went into this fire acted completely different as well. One of the biggest questions people have is how did this fire move so quickly, it was a perfect storm of weather and fire conditions."
Barefoot resident Gene Geldziler said when he called 911 early that Thursday morning, the operator told him they were going to send someone to evacuate him and his wife, who is handicapped. Geldziler said when he saw his back yard on fire, nobody needed to tell him to leave. He's amazed no one was injured. "Do i think they could have done a better job, yes, i applaud the firefighters, i applaud the police and everybody involved, but i think this community should have some kind of a siren or something, some kind of notification?" Geldziler said.
Aiello said the more they study and talk about the wildfire, the more they learn, so the conversation about it will continue. She adds the North Myrtle Beach planning commission and city council will hold a special workshop to talk about areas that may be prone to wildfires.
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