MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – Crews up and down the East Coast are furiously working to contain numerous wildfires that broke out over the weekend, with officials telling people to flee their homes for safety as flames approached neighborhoods.
Fires have been reported from the Delmarva Peninsula and New Jersey shore to the Carolinas and Georgia, and the risk of wildfires will continue through Sunday.
The FOX Forecast Center warned that the combination of low humidity, gusty winds and dry vegetation increased the danger of fires spreading out of control.
Relative humidity values were reported to be between 15% and 30% on Saturday, while wind gusts of up to 40 mph allowed the fires to grow quickly.
Some of the larger wildfires were reported in areas such as Mott State Park in New Jersey, Polk County in western North Carolina and Horry County in South Carolina.
Fire officials in Horry County ordered new evacuations overnight and into Sunday morning in the Carolina Forest area, and residents were told to head to the Carolina Forest Recreation Center for safety.
Officials also urged people to avoid the area and stay off the roads so first responders could continue their work to extinguish the fire.
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As of early Sunday morning, officials said the incident response has involved about 410 personnel manning, among other vehicles, at least 127 fire apparatus.
The South Carolina Forestry Commission shows two fires burning in Horry County, one that’s about 12,000 acres and another that’s about 600 acres.
So far, no injuries have been reported.
The South Carolina Forestry Commission issued a statewide burning ban for all counties on Saturday, which now prohibits all outdoor burnings, including yard debris burning, prescribed burning and campfires.
After that order went into effect, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster took to social media and didn’t mince his words when telling residents to adhere to the order.
“A statewide burning ban is now in effect due to dangerous wildfire conditions,” he said in a statement on X. “That means you can and will go to jail for starting a fire outdoors in South Carolina. Period.”
Evacuation notices were issued where homes were close to flames, such as in the Grand Strand of South Carolina and the western region of North Carolina, including the community of Tryon, North Carolina. But as of Saturday evening, local authorities had not reported any destroyed homes from the fires.
Several of the wildfires occurred in areas where the remnants of Hurricane Helene had knocked over trees and other vegetation, causing increased concerns for erratic fires.
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The fire weather conditions were produced by the flow ahead of a strong cold front, which pushed through the region Saturday night.
Behind the frontal boundary, temperatures dropped by 20-30 degrees and winds turned more out of the north and northwest.
GOES satellite imagery on Saturday showed smoke plumes ahead of the advancing frontal boundary, but the cold front was not expected to increase precipitation.
The dry air mass will continue to linger on Sunday in the wake of the frontal passage, leaving firefighters with little moisture to work with in their battle against the flames.
By Monday, winds are expected to taper off, providing temporary relief before another frontal boundary works its way into the region during the middle part of the workweek.
The next system is expected to arrive on Wednesday and bring much-needed precipitation to an area that has been plagued by a lack of rainfall for months.
Computer forecast models show upwards of an inch of rainfall is possible, with locally heavier amounts in thunderstorms.
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According to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor, drought conditions stretch from Florida and Georgia into the mid-Atlantic and Northeast, with parts of New Jersey even experiencing extreme drought conditions.
The lack of rainfall has made the landscape more susceptible to brush fires, and authorities warn that the dry conditions will likely continue to pose a threat through spring until more substantial beneficial rains arrive later in the year.
