Horry County ranks second-highest in S.C. for house fire deaths, Red Cross says

HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WMBF) - The American Red Cross of South Carolina has designated Horry County as its signature fire area for 2024.

According to the Executive Director of the Red Cross’s Eastern South Carolina chapter, Michael Hesbach, Horry County has had the second-highest number of house fire-related deaths in the state over the last five years.

“Typically (the designation) is as a result of a high number of home fire-related fatalities, and so Horry County was selected because of that,” said Hesbach. “There have been 49 home fire fatalities in the last five years.”

The Red Cross is now hoping to prevent future deaths by educating residents in neighborhoods all over the county. They are replacing and installing smoke detectors and showing residents how to create a fire escape plan.

On Wednesday, volunteers visited the Country Lakes community in Little River.

One Country Lakes resident, Judy Webber, told WMBF News ever since she survived a house fire years ago, fire safety isn’t something she takes lightly.

“You don’t really know the value of the stuff you have until you’ve lost it,” said Webber.

So, when Red Cross volunteers knocked on her door and offered to check her smoke alarms, she immediately agreed.

“It’s very important to have smoke alarms now. I mean, we had to learn it the hard way, by losing everything,” said Webber.

According to Hesbach, volunteers choose which neighborhoods to visit based on which one’s fire departments have deemed to be most at risk for a house fire

“(Country Lakes) is a mostly retired community, typically, it’s vulnerable populations,” said Hesbach. “Most of these homes are built in the mid to late 90s; they still have original smoke detectors.”

Because of this, Red Cross volunteers said they visited 50 homes and installed 141 alarms on just Wednesday alone.

Residents tell WMBF News they feel a sense of relief.

“The benefit for me was they installed two more that we did not have and those two were put in each bedroom, so I would have never thought about doing that,” said Country Lakes resident Rose Gantt. “It’s a safer feeling.”

The Red Cross will be canvassing several neighborhoods in Horry County this month. If volunteers aren’t in your neighborhood, you can call them at 1-800- RED CROSS.

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