NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WBTW) – While the North Myrtle Beach Fire Department works to determine the cause of Thursday’s fire at a condominium building in the Barefoot Resort, the blaze brought back memories for neighbors of the wildfire in 2009 that spread to Barefoot and burned down 79 homes.
Luigi Valeriano was coming home from vacation Thursday when he saw the chaos outside of his condo building in the Havens community in Barefoot Resort.
“When you first come into the entrance, obviously all you could see was lights and fire trucks and cops. Had to be every cop from North Myrtle Beach here,” Valeriano said.
Valeriano saw a fire burning through the building next to his, and he says the sight made him think about the wildfire that spread to Barefoot Resort in 2009, which burned 79 homes to the ground.
“I remember all of the hard times and all of the sentimental things that people lost, you know, that the parents’ parents gave to them when they were kids,” Valeriano said.
Valeriano’s father lived in the Barefoot subdivision that caught fire in 2009. His dad’s home was one of the few that survived the wildfire’s blaze.
“I thought about my crazy dad going to the houses that were still standing,” Valeriano said. “I think there were only about five out of the two developments. He was going house to house seeing if everybody was alright.”
When Valeriano saw Thursday’s fire burning right next to his condo building, he felt relieved to find out that no one was hurt, however, he says now he thinks about everything that his neighbors have probably lost.
“Not like the fancy clothing or furniture, but sentimental things. Something that’s in your family that you take with you,” Valeriano said. “It’s gone. You can never replace it. It’s done.”
The cause of Thursday’s fire at the Havens in the Barefoot Resort is under investigation. The North Myrtle Beach Fire Department is leading the investigation with the Horry County Fire Department, ATF, and the State Fire Marshall. The process is expected to take some time.
