Four Oaks man was staying at Myrtle Beach resort where fire sparked in bowling alley

A Johnston County man was one of hundreds of people scrambling to change vacation plans in Myrtle Beach after an early morning fire forced guests out of the resort where they were staying.

WMBF reports crews on Wednesday were called at 5:36 a.m. to the Captain’s Quarters Resort on S. Ocean Boulevard.

The fire sparked in the hotel's bowling alley, the Myrtle Beach Fire Department reports.

Tim Boswell from Four Oaks says he is frustrated by the struggle to get any information from Captains Quarters.

He said he found out from other guests, not the hotel staff, that there was a fire.

"We found out about 5:30-ish, a little bit before that, that the building was on fire," Boswell said. "We didn't hear any alarms going off, if it was it was very quiet, it wasn't what it needed to be."

The resort has said it will refund impacted guests.

WRAL News reached out to the Captain's Quarter's resort to get their response to the matter. We were told they are not speaking with the media at this time.

Department spokesperson Capt. Jon Evans said everyone inside the resort was evacuated -- many were asleep when they were awoken by the fire.

"I couldn't tell you the number of people evacuated, we are in the middle of summer though," Evans said.

Some guests were being taken to sister properties of the Captain’s Quarters Resort, such as Landmark Resort, Evans confirmed.

"There was a bunch of smoke, then the power went out, so we had to go down nine flights of stairs in the dark, kids screaming, everybody's scared," one traveler told WMBF.

"There were just flames coming up, hallways filled with smoke, and I just said, 'Mom we gotta go, we gotta go now,'" said Susan Renfro, another hotel guest.

Fire crews worked tirelessly to put the flames out for roughly five hours. After getting the fire under control, crews worked to get the guests’ belongings out of the rooms.

Three firefighters were treated for dehydration, but no injuries have been reported.

Shari Sicowski and her family of 16 were in the mix of vacationers evacuated due to the fire.

"Some of us had shoes, some of us didn't, some had shirts, some grabbed blankets," Sicowski said. "I grabbed my purse and my phone, obviously."

Sicowski said her dad banged on her door to wake her up before safely escaping without some of her most precious belongings.

While many vacations are now ruined, Sicowski said she plans to make the best of it.

"We're not traveling back home 12 hours for nothing, we've still got another five or six days, and Myrtle Beach is great," she said.