S.C. Authorities Investigate Delay in Fire Response

March 26--MYRTLE BEACH -- Horry County officials continue looking into why the first call about the Windsor Green fire in Carolina Forest was transferred to another jurisdiction, which led to a three-minute response time delay.

Paul Whitten, director of Horry County Public Safety, said there was no new information on Monday and officials still are investigating the matter.

Call times from the county's 911 center show the first call about the March 17 fire came in at 5:08 p.m., but the person taking the call was confused about the location and transferred the call to the city of Myrtle Beach at 5:11 p.m.

Initial reports given to Horry County Council during Tuesday's meeting were that the first call on the fire was received just before 5:12 p.m., reporting a brush fire at 213 Wando River Road in the Ashley Park subdivision, which is separated from the Windsor Green condominium development by power lines. The first engine, from Carolina Forest, arrived less than five minutes after that call -- just before 5:17 p.m.

Leslie Yancey, spokeswoman for Horry County Fire Rescue, said it's hard to tell whether the three minutes would have made any difference. The fire ultimately destroyed 26 condominium buildings and displaced 190 people.

"It really is too difficult to speculate," Yancey said.

She said firefighters responded with one engine -- a brush truck first because the emergency was initially called in as a brush fire. She added this is standard procedure, and added that once the firefighters arrived and saw structures were in danger they called for backup.

It took less than 20 minutes for all 26 buildings to be engulfed in flames after the fire was reported.

Scott Hawkins, spokesman for the S.C. Department of Forestry, said one never knows how much difference those three minutes could have made, but in this particular case, "probably not much."

Hawkins said wildfire calls are directed to forestry via local 911 calls. Three dispatch centers around the state keep forestry officials on alert if brush fire alerts are received, he added.

The Forestry Commission is often the last agency contacted, Hawkins said, because of that delay between the initial 911 call and the transfer.

"Most human beings, when they see a fire, know to call 911," he said, adding that they don't often directly dial forestry.

Hawkins said the agency has no training or equipment to suppress building fires. About the only thing they can do is use tractor plows to dig breaks in order to protect nearby structures when a brush fire breaks out, he said.

Forestry officials were on the scene at Windsor Green, but they never off-loaded their equipment.

"By the time we arrived, that was a fully engulfed structure fire and there was nothing to plow," Hawkins said.

Contact reporter BRAD DICKERSON at 626-0301 or follow him at Twitter.com/TSN_bdickerson.

Copyright 2013 - The Sun News (Myrtle Beach, S.C.)