NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WBTW) – The City of North Myrtle Beach is asking Horry County for help regulating where you can burn trash in the county.

This all started with a housing subdivision in North Myrtle Beach asking for help because they fear another wildfire like the one that happened back in 2009.

Kathy Weis is the President of the Tidewater Plantation Community Association, and she says they’ve had several residents complain about people burning trash in their yards surrounding Tidewater.   

“We live in a pine forest, and there are thousands of trees around here that create a lot of pine straw, and one little stray spark could cause a big problem,” said Weis.  

North Myrtle Beach Mayor Marylin Hatley wrote a letter to Horry County Council members and the county administrator asking the county implement a permanent ban against all types of outdoor burning east of the Intracoastal Waterway and north of Highway 22.

Hatley says the city implemented a citywide open burning ban in 2009, but there are still some “donut holes” within the city that are in Horry County’s jurisdiction.

Hatley says the county has jurisdiction along Little River Neck Road, and that’s one of the areas where they have problems with open burning.

Little River Neck Road is a cul-de-sac that surrounds Tidewater Plantation, Weis says that worries people who live there.

“If the fire started at the beginning of Little River Neck Road starts to come up this way, how do we get out? That’s a big concern. Do we go across the marsh, I don’t think so,” said Weis.

Horry County Council Chair Mark Lazarus says council is considering burn ban zones for areas east of the Intracoastal Waterway to help.

 “It would not be a county-wide burn ban. You know, we’ve got a lot of farm lands and open areas that are west of the waterway that people have farms and people who have tree farms and burn the underbrush. So, we’d have to be very considerate of that,” said Lazarus.

Lazarus says they plan to talk about those burn ban zones in the next public safety committee meeting in two weeks.