Myrtle Beach police investigating arson at Ocean Boulevard resort

Myrtle Beach police are investigating an fire at an Ocean Boulevard resort that blazed Tuesday night, but was quickly extinguished before it spread thanks to a fast-acting hotel security guard and manager.

Officers were called about 11:15 p.m. Tuesday to the Paradise Resort at 2201 S. Ocean Blvd. after a patrolling hotel security guard noticed the fire and alerted his manager, who put out the blaze then called the fire department, police said.

While making his rounds, the 41-year-old security guard said he noticed the fire on the north side of the building when he was on the 10th floor of the hotel, authorities said.

He said he told his manager, who immediately grabbed two fire extinguishers and put it out.

“It was obvious it was a set fire,” Bruce Arnel, battalion chief and fire marshal with Myrtle Beach Fire Department said of the incident.

Arnel said a lone plastic chair sitting outside the building “maliciously” set on fire. The chair was stored near large stacks of other plastic chairs, and the situation could have become much more serious if the fire had spread.

Arnel said the chair was completely consumed by the fire, but that the building suffered only some superficial damage.

MBFR officials will be keeping a file on the incident and be looking out for similar incidents in case a trend emerges.

“We just want to remind business owners to be very careful about what they store outside their building, like combustibles and flammable things, which can lead to fires,” Arnel said.

This story was originally published October 15, 2015 at 12:26 PM with the headline "Myrtle Beach police investigating arson at Ocean Boulevard resort."