Firefighters on Sunday began to gain an upper hand on more than 170 wildfires in North and South Carolina that had prompted evacuations, officials said.
Residents near the largest fire, which stretched across 1,600 acres and threatened Carolina Forest, a community just west of Myrtle Beach in Horry County, were allowed to return home on Sunday after being evacuated overnight, according to Horry County Fire Rescue.
Officials warned residents to watch for any rekindling in hot spots. The fire was 30 percent contained by Sunday evening, according to the The South Carolina Forestry Commission.
Dramatic video from Sunday morning showed firefighters battling flames as the fire neared houses. No injuries have been reported and no buildings have been lost in the fire, according to Horry County officials.
Public safety workers knocked on doors and blasted messages through public announcement systems overnight as evacuation orders expanded.
South Carolina’s governor, Henry McMaster, declared a state of emergency on Sunday and said that a statewide burn ban would remain in effect indefinitely.
Another fire in Horry County that burned about 800 acres was 80 percent contained as of Sunday afternoon, the Forestry Commission said on social media.
The state fire marshal said that there were more than than 175 wildfires in the state burning a total of 4,200 acres, according to the governor’s office. Most of them were “effectively contained” by Sunday afternoon, the commission said.
In North Carolina, a brush fire in the mountains was threatening Tryon and Saluda, small communities in the Blue Ridge Mountains about 40 miles south of Asheville. The fire had burned between 400 and 500 acres and was zero percent contained as of Sunday afternoon, according to Polk County Emergency Management.
Evacuations were ordered on Saturday and remained in place on Sunday in Tryon, which has a population of about 1,500. Saluda has less than 1,000 residents.
The fire was caused by a downed power line and quickly spread up a mountain, threatening several buildings, according to Saluda Fire and Rescue.
The fires ignited while a large portion of the southeastern United States was under a red-flag warning, an alert from the National Weather Service indicating a high risk of fires. Most of those warnings expired late Saturday night.
The Georgia Forestry Commission said on social media that it had responded to 137 wildfires on Saturday that had burned 2,390 acres. Conditions were “slightly better” on Sunday, the agency said, and it cautioned residents against doing anything that could spark a fire.
Gusty winds, dry air and afternoon high temperatures in the low 70s helped fuel the rapid spread of the fires. Another factor: South Carolina had unusually low rainfall in February, and the vegetation is dry.
For instance, Myrtle Beach has recorded 2.30 inches of rain since Jan. 1, far less than the 6.30 inches of rain that is considered normal for this time of year. North Carolina was a bit wetter last month, though it also received below-average rainfall.
Claire Fahy, Sara Ruberg and Amanda Holpuch contributed reporting.
Content Source: www.nytimes.com