Randall Hill - Photojournalist

BAREFOOT FIRE

  • Taken from the top floor of the Marina Inn at Grande Dunes, a wild fire glows the sky red near the upscale development in Myrtle Beach. The wild fire destroyed more than 70 homes in nearby North Myrtle Beach.
  • After the early morning fire swept through, an entire street of houses lay ruined on Swift Street in the Barefoot Resort community of North Myrtle Beach.
  • Firemen battle the brush fire at an exit ramp onto Highway 31 from Water Tower Road Wednesday in Horry County.
  • Injured from the fire on Club Course Dr. on Thursday afternoon, a dog named Onyx searches for its family in the Barefoot Resort community of North Myrtle Beach. Residents Donna and Jim Finley where awakened by the dog only to watch him run into the woods during their escape from the fire.
  • A melted car wheel runs across a driveway at a burned house on Swift Street in Barefoot Resort Thursday in North Myrtle Beach.
  • Covered in soot from helping with the search for keepsakes at her grandparent's burnt out house on Swift Street in Barefoot Resort, Elli Boos, 4, plays with a bedspring on Friday used as a toy. With her parents Derek and Penny Boos and other siblings, the grandchildren of Bob and Jo Ann Portteus played an important role in helping with the search for usable personal items. Residents living in the fire affected areas were allowed back to their homes today to check on the status of their homes. The Portteus home was one of several completely damaged on Swift Street in the development. {quote}It's just good having a loving family,{quote} said Bob Portteus when asked how he felt about the damage to his home and watching his family helping with the search. {quote}Everything else can be replaced.{quote}
  • Firefighters with the Sumter Fire Department work to put out hot spots on Swift Street in Barefoot Resort Friday afternoon in North Myrtle Beach.
  • Sorted items salvaged from the burned out home of Bob and Jo Ann Portteus lay in an open area Friday afternoon in North Myrtle Beach.
  • With his neighbor's house in the background in ruin, Robert Whitlock of Marsh Glen drive in Barefoot Resort, mows his yard Friday afternoon in North Myrtle Beach. {quote}The waterway probably went down three foot I used so much water to save it,{quote} said Whitlock about the five hours he watered his house Thursday morning to keep it from the firestorm.
  • Tori Lewis checks out the back of his home Friday afternoon in Barefoot Resort in North Myrtle Beach. The home of Lewis and his wife Candace was spared but for damage to it’s siding. However a truck sitting in the driveway was completely burned-out by the fire. Residents living in the fire’s affected areas were allowed back to their homes on Friday morning.
  • Neighbors and friends hug from left, Cindy Cumbo, her mother Jo Ann Portteus and Kathy Kuhn, during a break in the search for keep shakes Friday in front of the Portteus home in North Myrtle Beach. Bob and Jo Ann Portteus had the help of their three daughters and their families as residents living in the fire’s affected areas were allowed back to their homes.
  • Debbie Lynams (left) and her daughter Shannon Peterson, search for a ring in the ruins of Bob and Jo Ann Portteus’ home on Swift Street in North Myrtle Beach. Lynams and Peterson were helping their neighbors as residents living in the fire’s affected areas were allowed back to their homes.
  • Amber Broussard pauses in reflection in the graded lot where her home stood at 5710 Whistling Duck Dr. she shared with her boyfriend Bill Whitaker and their two dogs in Barefoot Resort. “I want to make sure this doesn’t happen again,” she said referring to the lack of warning received about the fire. “Brush fires and wildfires are always going to occur, we can’t stop that. But we can put plans and protocols in place to make sure people don’t have to wake up in the middle of the night and have less than 5 minutes to get out of their home before it burns.”
  • Bob Portteus checks out the progress of his new home being built on Swift Street just a month after a firestorm burnt 70 houses in Barefoot Resort. {quote}God is so great,{quote} said Bob Portteus as he stood nearby watching the workers frame his new home. {quote}People should appreciate the simple things in life, like holding your wife's hand and reading a book. Life is exciting.{quote} The upbeat Portteus and his family are the first to start to rebuild in the development where more than 70 homes where completely burnt in the fire.
  • Six-year-old Jacob Cushman hugs his mother Cathryn Monday at the Residents' Club in North Myrtle Beach after searching for donated goods. The Cushman's rental home on Club Course Dr. in Barefoot Resort was a complete loss after the fire. {quote}People have been angels to us,{quote} said Cathryn while standing outside the clubhouse where a donation center has been started for victims of the fire. Still, with donations of toys for Jacob and his little brother Matthew, all the family’s household items were destroyed in the fire. The family had only moved into the house in Barefoot Resort for one week.
  • Bob and Jo Ann Portteus walk out the front door of their recently completed Swift Street home on Wednesday evening en route for dinner plans with a neighbor. Their new home was built on the same property as their home destroyed during the April 2009 wildfires. “Starting over was overwhelming,” said Jo Ann Portteus about the 6-months since the wildfires. “Moving in was overwhelming. Then as we got the things that make this a home, it began to get better. Now its like we’ve been here all the time. It’s over, it’s past and we’ve moved on.”
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