BURTON, S.C. () – Two different fires in Burton threatened homes on Wednesday and Thursday, pushing fire officials to educate the public on safe debris-burning practices.

According to Assistant Fire Chief Daniel Byrne, Burton Fire responded to 30 brush fires, 42 trash fires and 26 unsafe yard debris fires in 2024. He says many, if not all, of these could have been avoided.

“Both of these fires we had this week, they were very, very lucky that we didn’t lose homes,” Byrne said.

The first happened on Wednesday on Tarra Court around 2 p.m. The brush fire damaged a shed, the home and fencing. Three other properties were threatened, according to Burton Fire. One person was hurt.

“They thought the fire was out. They left. The fire wasn’t out. When they came back, it already started to ignite the shed,” Byrne said.

The very next day, a similar blaze broke out on Capehart Drive just after 4 p.m. A shed was damaged, and two properties were threatened.

Byrne says embers can smolder for up to eight hours and could engulf your yard.

“All it takes is a little bit of a breeze, and you’ve got the fire off and running again. And one of the biggest things that I hear when I arrive on scene and talk to the people that are involved is they are very surprised at how quick and how fast the fire sprang back up and spread, and they weren’t able to control it,” he said.

Byrne says it can save your life and your property to be more aware. He says to:

• Follow your local burning ordinance
• Have a continuous water source that will reach the fire
• The blaze should be attended by a competent, sober adult
• Make sure the fire is 50 to 75 feet from any structure

“Dry conditions, wind, all of that all comes into play. But even without those, it’s very, very dangerous when you’re burning fire in your backyard,” Byrne said.

Burton Fire will train you for free on how to use a fire extinguisher, but Byrne says you should always call 911 before trying to put an uncontrolled fire out by yourself.