WMBFNews.com | Myrtle Beach/Florence, SC | News, Weather, SportsFire officials: Kitchen appliance started NMB motel fire

Fire officials: Kitchen appliance started NMB motel fire

NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WMBF) - A charred building and the smell of smoke is all that remained of the Carriage House in North Myrtle Beach Wednesday evening after a massive blaze ripped through the motel.

Flames rekindled Thursday morning just before 7 a.m. and crews were called back to the scene to suppress the fire.

North Myrtle Beach Spokeswoman Nicole Aiello says emergency responders were alerted to the fire at the Carriage House, located at 4601 S. Ocean Blvd., just after 7 p.m.

More than an hour later, firefighters confirmed they successfully contained the blaze. An investigation later revealed the fire originated in an occupied apartment. It is believed to have started from a malfunctioning appliance in the kitchen.

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The sound of sirens blazing through the Windy Hill section of North Myrtle Beach brought many onlookers and nearby residents to the scene of the blaze, including Mark Ginn.

"I said to my wife, 'I'm going to take a look,'" he remembered. "So, I went out and you could see in the corner of the building - right in the middle - a flame."

When emergency responders arrived on scene, firefighters were challenged with large flames that covered the two-story building. North Myrtle Beach officials say one family was inside of the hotel when the fire sparked; however, no injuries were reported.

"It probably took maybe 10 minutes to go through the whole [building]," Ginn said. "The fire department did a great job of saving the building next to it."

Rachel Stephens and Beth Hedrick were also among the onlookers Wednesday night, watching firefighters battle the massive inferno. However, the two have a deeper connection to the motel -- it's a part of their family history.

Their grandmother helped to build the Carriage House along Ocean Boulevard in the 1960s.

"I told my mom, 'I'm glad that my grandmother wasn't here to see it burn because she would have been really sad,'" Hedrick said.

The Carriage House is a two-story motel, sitting just 200 feet from the ocean. The L-shaped building is a part of a bigger oceanfront property called the Tricia-Lyn, featuring two bedroom apartments, one-room efficiencies and deluxe motel rooms.

North Myrtle Beach officials say the Wednesday night fire will remain under investigation until it is learned what sparked the blaze.

Horry County Fire Rescue and Myrtle Beach Fire Rescue assisted North Myrtle Beach in their efforts.

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