Four other wildfires were active in the state, with two igniting on Monday in Williamsburg County, approximately 50 miles west of Myrtle Beach, as revealed in an email from Doug Wood, the forestry commission’s spokesperson. Over the past seven days, a total of 108 fires have been reported, scorching 4,357 acres. Wood mentioned that the majority of these fires occurred on Saturday during dry weather conditions, amid gusts exceeding 25 mph in the Myrtle Beach area and temperatures rising into the mid-70s, according to data from the National Weather Service.
Volunteers congregated at Carolina Forest Community Church on Sunday, providing grilled hamburgers and hotdogs for the firefighters taking brief respites as they coordinated their efforts, reported NBC affiliate WMBF of Myrtle Beach. Thomas Garavito and Jillian Patton from Murrells Inlet delivered ready-to-eat meals from Dunkin’, expressing their appreciation for the tireless work of the responders in safeguarding their homes.
Meanwhile, in North Carolina, fires persisted in all four national forests on Monday, scorching nearly 500 acres with no containment estimate available. Crews were busy establishing containment lines and employing mechanized equipment to manage heavy fuel loads, partly due to the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, which caused havoc in the Southeast last year and triggered catastrophic flooding in Tennessee and North Carolina. The storm’s remnants indirectly influenced the fifth active fire near Tryon, where vegetative debris left by Helene fueled the flames.
In Georgia, ten fires from the weekend continued to burn on Monday, consuming 2,535 acres, damaging seven structures and two vehicles, with no containment reported. Tennessee’s Department of Agriculture fire summary indicated six remaining fires from the weekend, burning less than 10 acres of brush, while 762 acres were scorched over a seven-day period. Despite the winds calming in the region from Georgia to North Carolina, the lingering low relative humidity below 25% posed a high fire risk through Tuesday night, according to federal forecasters.
“The National Weather Service forecast office for Columbia, South Carolina, stated that as temperatures return to normal levels, a cold front is expected to bring rain to the Carolinas late Tuesday into Wednesday, according to federal forecasters. The Columbia office also noted that the cold front will be accompanied by an increase in winds, which could potentially exacerbate any remaining fires in the area. In their forecast discussion published on Monday, the office emphasized that the cold, wet system will move through the region quickly, offering only temporary relief from fire weather concerns.”
