COASTAL OBSERVER

A ban on outdoor burning is in effect in Georgetown County for the second time in three weeks due to a heightened risk for wildfires. 

In the wake of a March 1 wildfire in Prince George that had the potential to wipe out the development, the homeowners association is looking for ways to improve safety, including going beyond email to communicate with its members.

“We’ve never had to send, ‘there’s a fire – everybody run,’ ” said Randy Hall, president of the association.

The association uses TownSq, a community management  app, but not everybody who owns property is signed up.

Text messages might be a better option, Hall said.

“We’re looking at a way to put a text link in our Town Square app so that more important communications might reach more people faster,” he added.” We think that could help.”

The S.C. Forestry Commission has not released the results of its investigation into the March 1 fire, which was driven by strong winds. It burned about 130 acres. That fire followed a statewide ban on burning on Feb. 27.

A few days before the fire there was a controlled burn on Arcadia Plantation, which is south of Prince George.

Hall said controlled burns take place once or twice a year on Arcadia Plantation andthere’s never been an issue before.

“We haven’t had issues because they’ve been burning, and [they burn] on schedule,” he said. “Everything’s been good.”

Hall does not believe the controlled burn caused the wildfire, but he is waiting for the report from the Forestry Commission.

However, Hall was told that embers can smolder for days before ignited into a fire.

“As far as we can tell nothing was done inappropriately,” he said. “They stopped it when the wind picked up. Again, we are fortunate that our neighbors manage these lands so proactively.”

Hall was on vacation on March 1 when his phone “started blowing up” with messages from neighbors, who kept him updated on what was going on throughout the day.

“We’ve always worried about storms but the people who live here – and have lived here long enough – say fire will probably be our worst enemy when it happens,” Hall said.

Although firefighters from Midway Fire Rescue, and other local department, and Forestry Commission personnel were battling the fire on the ground, residents were waiting for airplanes to arrive to drop water. 

“Everyone was waiting and watching until the two fire planes showed up. Then we knew we had a chance,” Hall said. “Without those two pilots and without that capability, I don’t know that we would have stopped it.”

The two tanker planes operate under a contract with the Forestry Commission.

Although some houses were damaged, the fire was stopped before it reached the beachfront homes and before it crossed the marsh and threatened a half dozen homes nearby.

“We were lucky,” Hall said.

Since 2012, Prince George has been part of the National Fire Protection Association’s Firewise USA program, which educates people and communities on how to reduce wildfire risks.

“We focus on letting our landowners and homeowners know what they should and shouldn’t be doing,” Hall said.

The NFPA has guidelines about how close certain plants should be to a house.

“Some shrubs are good and some shrubs are bad,” Hall said. “Unfortunately some of the indigenous shrubbery here that we have around here is like dynamite.”

Hall believes the association board could decide to take the Firewise initiative to the next level.

“I guess we’ve done what we needed to do to get certification and be somewhat smart,” he said. “I think right now there’s a lot more attention on how can we get even better.”

Prince George residents are hosting a party for the first responders and Forestry Commission workers next week.

“We just want to recognize these teams for what they did and thank them in a special way,” Hall said. “We want those folks to come out and eat some barbecue and celebrate with us because I think most of us feel like there’s probably eight or 10 houses here today that wouldn’t be here if they hadn’t done what they did that day.”

The current burn ban was announced Thursday and was expected to remain in effect for several days.