US: Wildfire Emergency Declared In South Carolina

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster declared a state of emergency Sunday as wildfires in the Carolinas and Georgia scorched thousands of acres and forced people to evacuate.

The warning comes as the National Weather Service’s Wilmington office advised drivers to be careful on roads, with smoke-filled skies resulting in slow and difficult travel in the Myrtle Beach area.

Nearly 5,400 acres have burned in the, with 170 fires reported. Very low relative humidity, combined with drying fuels from the lack of rain, led to the ignition of fire. High winds caused the fires to spread rapidly.

In Horry County, a fire near Myrtle Beach and the Carolina Forest area had burned 1600 acres by Sunday night and was 30 percent contained. People in eight neighborhoods were forced to evacuate.