Myrtle Beach firefighters respond to fire at Broadway at the Beach near Margaritaville
A fire at Broadway at the Beach has caused damage to the boardwalk.
Wooden planks and part of the railing over Lake Broadway were burned in the fire on Tuesday. The walkway goes along the Dino Park attraction, near Margaritaville.
Jay Lodge, the owner of Dino Park, said he evacuated his employees when he was alerted by security.
John Evans, spokesperson for the Myrtle Beach Fire Department, said he didn’t believe anybody was injured or in danger. Evans said that no buildings or structures near the boardwalk sustained damage in the fire.
The call for the fire came in around 5:30 p.m. and it was under control by about 6 p.m., Evans said. At least 15 fire and rescue vehicles responded to the incident.
Amber Wells, who is on vacation with her family from Charlotte, N.C., said she was the first person to notice the fire after a meal at Margaritaville and alerted a security guard.
Wells said the fire appeared to start on a colored piece of Styrofoam beneath the bridge and it was quickly wind-aided. She surmised the fire may have been started by a lit cigarette or cigar that was thrown over the railing.
“It was probably a couple inches tall when we got over there,” Wells said. “[A security guard] immediately told everyone to get off the bridge and like 2 seconds later when the wind started blowing it kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger to the point where black smoke was coming underneath where we were standing. When we got back to the end of the bridge it was all the way to the very top of the railing.”
She said numerous turtles were sitting atop the Styrofoam that caught fire. “The turtles are always there when we come here and look at them,” Wells said. “They weren’t moving. They were just standing there. They didn’t move at all. My kids were like freaking out because they were worried about the turtles.”
This story was originally published April 6, 2021 at 6:15 PM.
