Woman rescued from house fire in Surfside Beach area

Two men working on a nearby home were able to rescue a woman from her burning house on Friday afternoon in the Surfside Beach area.

Jake Lugin and Chris Tindall, with OTD Inc., said they were working at a home across the street when they saw smoke coming from a single-family brick home at 1107 Plantation Drive, which is located in the Deerfield Community.

Lugin said that he went to the back of the home and kicked in a window to gain entry to the home, while Tindall kicked in the front door. The men met in the middle of the house and found an elderly woman using a walker.

Lugin said helped the woman to the door and then carried her away from the home.

“We got her out and then the car exploded in the garage,” Lugin said and noted at that time, it did not appear that the woman was seriously injured.

The woman was taken by EMS to Waccamaw Community Hospital to be evaluated, said Leslie Yancey, spokeswoman for Horry County Fire Rescue.

The woman asked Lugin and Tindall to get her cat out of the house, but Lugin said the explosion occurred as he turned to go back inside the burning home and he was not able to find it.

Firefighters reported the cat was spotted outside the home, and they also searched for it inside the home.

The fire was reported at 11:41 a.m. Friday at the single-story brown brick home, Yancey said. Flames were showing and the house was 25 percent involved with fire when firefighters arrived.

Fire investigators arrived soon after the blaze and began searching for a cause of the fire. The cause remains under investigation.

The bulk of the damage appeared to be near the garage side of the home. A silver Nissan Versa parked in the driveway also was damaged during the blaze.

The incident attracted several neighbors, onlookers and friends of the woman, who inquired about her condition. The portion of Plantation Drive near the home was closed for several hours Friday afternoon while firefighters extinguished hot spots.

Firefighters from Horry County Fire Rescue, Myrtle Beach Fire Rescue and the Murrells Inlet-Garden City Fire Department responded to the house to battle the blaze.