Beaches and Bunkers…..After the Myrtle Beach Wildfires
The recent wild fires that have consumed over 20,000 acres in the North Myrtle Beach area will soon be just a vision in the rear view mirror. Many families will be rebuilding both homes and lives after the wrath of Mother Nature. For those families, we offer our empathy and our hopes that they will be able to take this misfortune and turn it into opportunity! As we approach the 10th anniversary of a fire that consumed virtually everything we owned, we can feel the pain of those who have lost years of memories and possessions. Those who have suffered loss will be resilient and life will continue….differently…and likely better! Out of ashes come castles!
We wanted to take a moment to update everyone of what effect these fires may have had on our home in Myrtle. The good news is…..there is no bad news! This is not to say that there were no tense and suspenseful days waiting to see what new turn the fires would take. The closest that any flame ups from the fires came to our neighborhood was approximately 3 miles or so…..far too close for my comfort! Given the normal prevailing wind direction in the area, there appears to have been even very minimal smoke and debris issues in the neighborhood. Oddly enough, Highway 31, which ends just a mile east from our condo remains closed as of this evening, mainly due to smoke and limited visibility. At the height of the fires, most of the activity was in the Highway 31 area around the Barefoot Resort which flanks both sides of 31 in the North Myrtle Beach area.
Many of the effects of these fires ended up far from ground zero. just a day or so after the fires began, our son Matt, who lives on Oak Island and works at St James Plantation, some 40 or so miles north and east of the central fire activity, was blowing ash and debris off the the greens on the golf courses at St James. Oak Island itself has been experiencing the effects as well.


What you can see here in these 2 pictures is the ash land debris that has traveled aloft from the wildfires and then settled in the ocean off the coast of Oak Island, only to be washed ashore by the tides.
The good thing is….none of this will have any harmful effects on the people or the environment. Just as Mother Nature brought it and discarded on the beach, She will take it back out the ocean to be dealt with over time.
The map below will give you a pretty good idea of thescope of the wildfires and just how close they did come to our neighborhood. We never really felt threatened, although there were a few days that all we were listening to was the live MB police and fire scanner channels and the streaming video from WMBF TV in Myrtle Beach. That, with word from some of our neighbors down there as well as our son Matt, at least made us feel a little more comfortable about the situation.

Even today…nearly two weeks after the fires began and after they have been categorized as 100% contained, the area still experiences the effects of the fires: Tonight again, many roads will be closed due to heavy smoke cover from the still burning embers throughout the area. The major north/south route along the Strand, Highway 31 will have significant closures over night as the winds settle and the cool air aloft prevents the warm, smoky air from rising, limiting visibility to just a few yards at times. Highways 22 and 90, both important east/west routes into and out of Myrtle will also face closures overnight. This is expected to continue for some time yet until all remnants of the fires have been completely extinguished. Luckily…the beaches remain accessible and clean!
Basically, at this point everything is OK and we’re anxiously awaiting awaiting everyone’s vacation this summer! We would like to take this opportunity to give a big Thanks! to all of you who have chosen to stay with us this year, either as your first time or your return visit! As always, please don’t hesitate to touch base with us with any needs that you may have for your vacation, We’ll do whatever we can to accommodate your needs!
Gerry & Pat Monaco








