MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WBTW) – For some people living in the Windsor Green community, the fire that ripped through the community Thursday night was an all too familiar experience.
A wildfire destroyed 26 buildings at the Windsor Green apartments in 2013. People who lived through those fires were shocked to see it happen again five years later.
One woman who lives in the Windsor Green complex in Carolina Forest says she lost her home in 2013, and when the fire broke out Thursday night, she feared it would happen again.
“I just can’t believe that. Twice in my lifetime I’ve lived through a fire like this,” says Helen Rapp.
Rapp and her husband lost everything after a fire burned their Windsor Green home to the ground five years ago.
“All we had was the clothes on our back and each other,” Rapp recalls. “We’re thankful for that.”
Rapp’s doctors diagnosed her with post-traumatic stress disorder after that fire. When her neighbors banged on her door last night, Rapp says it took her right back that night in 2013.
“I’m still, I’m numb right now. I’m feeling very nauseated and sick from all of this. And I’m sure that’s part of the memories coming back,” says a tired Rapp.
For Ruth and George Strumke, Thursday night’s fire was even more terrifying than the one they experienced in 2013 since George is now wheelchair bound and uses an oxygen tank to breathe.
“I said, ‘Oh my gosh. I have to get out,” says Ruth Strumke. “I didn’t know how to get him help. I went out onto the sidewalk and the flames were so huge, they looked like they were coming from the building right next door to us. I was so afraid that it was going to explode.”
For George, not only did the fire take him back to five years ago, but also to his 40 year career as a firefighter.
“Here I am on oxygen, and I wanted to get out there so bad,” says George Strumke of helping put out the fire and save lives.
Seven people were taken to the hospital, four of whom are in critical condition. Fire officials have not released a cause of the fire.