The Great Fire of 2009

In late April around the 22nd, a major forest fire broke out in Horry County, South Carolina. It burned 20,000 acres and 76 homes in the vicinity of Myrtle Beach. We watched with great concern as sketchy news reports came out of SC on the Charlotte news, and checked for updates on the Myrtle Beach TV stations' websites because the fire spread so quickly and was at several points VERY close to the marina and our boat.



After the first couple of days we were sure the marina was untouched, but had heard from my Mom that the home of some of her friends who lived in the Barefoot Landing area had burned to the ground. A few days later another friend of hers emailed some pictures that were taken from the bridge at Grande Dunes, which we can see clearly from the vantage point of the boat. I am SO GLAD we didn't see these pictures until well after we were sure the boat was fine. A hurricane is one thing, but a fire at a marina is quite another.