Per a post by S.C. Representative William Bailey, witnesses on the beach watched as a shrimp boat explodes off the Sea Mountain area of North Myrtle Beach approximately 50 minutes ago.
Shrimp Boat Explodes: Immediate Response and Safety Measures
The City of North Myrtle Beach sent out jet skis to the explosion.
North Myrtle Beach dispatched jet skis in response to the incident just after the shrimp boat exploded in plain view of beach visitors.
A group of people was observed on an ocean raft moving away from the destroyed boat, making its way toward officials in North Myrtle BeachCity of North Myrtle Beach to celebrate expansion of the Park & Sports Complex Nov. 14.
It is unknown, at this time, if anyone on board the shrimp boat was injured.
Stay tuned here for a coming update.
North Myrtle Beach Fire and Rescue posted on Facebook: Around 4 pm on Monday afternoon our units were dispatched to a reported boat fire off the coast of Cherry Grove in the ocean near the Cherry Grove Pier.
Due to this being an active incident in the ocean and not easily accessible numerous agencies coordinated in the response and a Unified Command was established on the beach at Sea Mountain Hwy.
First arriving Fire Personnel made visual contact from the shore to begin providing information for additional responding agencies.
Fire Personnel from Rescue 1 partnered up with North Myrtle Beach Ocean Rescue staff to deploy 2 jet skis from the shore to make contact with the boat crew who had deployed a life raft. They were able to bring the crew back to shore all accounted for with no injuries.
Horry County Fire Rescue Boat 2 deployed from Little River as primary fire suppression and knocked down as much of the fire as they could until the boat sank. After conferring with Coast Guard, the remaining fuel was allowed to burn off to minimize environmental impacts.
North Myrtle Beach Police deployed a drone to get visual of the scene as well as their Boat, Marine 1, to provide support to HCFR Boat 2 as needed.
North Myrtle Beach Rescue Squad responded a watercraft as well and stood by to provide further assistance as needed.
US Coast Guard responded as well to coordinate and assist on site.
Excellent work by all agencies involved as open ocean incidents always present unique challenges.
Successful outcomes come with the partnerships and working relationships we all share together when faced with incidents such as these.
