An early morning fire on Waccamaw Shores destroyed a pier, a boat, and a personal watercraft then damaged another pier at Lake Waccamaw Saturday.
Mayor Matt Wilson said firefighters were called to the home in the 2200 block around 1:30 a.m. Shortly thereafter, he said, a neighbor called and alerted him to the fire.
“You could see it across the lake,” Wilson said.
A personal watercraft tied to the burning dock broke free and damaged the underside of a neighboring pier, Wilson said, but firefighters managed to stop that blaze.
The pier and vessels are owned by a family from Fayetteville, Wilson said. The property is a vacation home for the family.
The owners of the pier that burned were asleep at the time of the fire, Chief Ron Sasser said. A neighbor called 911.
Sasser said firefighters from the lake were assisted by Hallsboro. Lake Waccamaw Police also provided traffic control. At first, they planned to use a boat to fight the fire from the lake, Sasser said, but the winds were 10-15 miles per hour and the lake was whitecapping. The first bands from Tropical Storm Chantal were reaching the area about the time firefighters were deployed to the blaze.
“It just wasn’t a safe way to approach a fire like that,” he said.
The fire is under investigation by the county and state fire marshal’s office. No injuries were reported.
