Family did everything they could to stop Myrtle Beach area blaze, wife of cited man says

The wife of a man who lives in the Woodlawn Drive area off S.C. 90 and who was cited for allowing a fire to spread to another person's property said she and her husband did everything they could to stop the blaze.

Megan Brogan, 29, said her husband, Mark Torchi, was issued the citation. She said a garbage burn got out of control on Saturday, they called 911, and the fire department came to put it out. On Wednesday, she said, the fire apparently reignited.

Forestry officials said they would release more information regarding the cause of the fire, which has burned about 20,000 acres, later today. Officials did not immediately confirm that Torchi was cited.

On Wednesday, Brogan said much of her backyard was engulfed in flames. Although an Horry County official said last night that the man ticketed lost his home in the blaze, Brogan said that was incorrect -- her house was fine.

Brogan's husband was also cited for not notifying the forestry commission of the controlled burn, she said. She said her husband was at work Friday and was not immediately available for comment.

"Anybody you speak to will tell you that we're very nice people and very neighborly people,'' she said.

Al Whittaker, who lives in the area, said he did not think Torchi should be blamed for the fire, noting the family called the fire department on Saturday as soon as they could.

"He did what you're supposed to do," Whittaker said.

Colleen Bury, 43, who lives next to Torchi, said he came to apologize Saturday after the initial fire spread to her 11-acre property. On Wednesday, she said residents from a nearby subdivision helped her to control the fire before the fire department arrived.

She said the exact same area that was on fire Saturday was also burning Wednesday. She runs a trucking business at the site and anxiously watched to see if the fire got closer to a 250-gallon diesel fuel tank she uses for her equipment.

"If that fire comes up here and hits that tank, we're in trouble,'' said Bury, who was evacuated by authorities from her home on Wednesday afternoon and allow to return that night. ''I was nervous. I was scared."

She said just about everybody who lives in the country burns their garbage. After all, she noted, there are not any garbage trucks to pick up trash like there would be in a city. She said she did not hold anything against her neighbors for the out-of-control fire.

"It's not like he went and did it on purpose," she said. "It's something innocent. He figured, 'Well, I'm going to get this debris out of my yard.'"