My husband, children and I used to live in Myrtle Beach; Surfside Beach to be exact, but we know the Barefoot Landing area well.  That’s where the wildfire is changing lives.  How sad for those people.  My prayers go out to them.  Thankfully, no one has been hurt, as of this writing.

Here in Florida we have fire weather.  It is when conditions of dryness are ripe for fire hazards.  Florida is currently enduring a drought and, as with the dry conditions in Myrtle Beach, one spark could cause devastation.  A cigarette butt thrown out of a car or truck window along any road with vegetation, a firebowl fire in your backyard, a charcoal grill left unattended or used on a windy day could all explode into disaster. 

We have a backyard firebowl.  We’ve never used it.  Why?  If it’s not raining, it’s windy or we’re on a fire weather alert.  We live on a heavily vegetated area, like most of Florida and some of it is bone dry.  We’ve explained to the kids many times that because of the potential hazard, we just can’t use the the firebowl.  Maybe in another house with a concrete backyard we could, so long as it is not windy or raining.  Ah, Florida weather.

If this blaze could happen in Myrtle Beach it could happen here.  Please be careful with fire, grills, cigarette butts and matches.  I like Siesta Key and the surrounding area just the way it is.

Here are some pics of the devastation: http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/SC-wildfire-burns-dozens-homes/ss/events/us/042309scwildfire