CONWAY, S.C. (AP) – A wind-whipped forest fire forced the evacuation of 60 homes and threatened to burn several houses as smoke billowed above this small city near the South Carolina coast Sunday, officials said.
The fire, reported at 1 p.m., had burned roughly 250 acres with flames creeping to within inches of an unspecified number of homes, Horry County Fire Rescue spokesman Todd Cartner said.
Dozens of coastal fire departments responded, and authorities urged people to stay away from a wedged-shaped area just north of the city that was bounded on three sides by several miles of roads.
A portion of a highway north of Conway closed because of low visibility and the need to move fire equipment, Cartner said.
People who fled their homes were congregating at a nearby church.
Cartner said he did not know how many people had evacuated.
Conway, a city of about 11,000 people, is about 15 miles northwest of Myrtle Beach.
The eastern half of the state was under a red flag fire warning, with winds gusting up to 30 mph and low humidity, according to the National Weather Service. The ground also is dry, which creates dangerous wildfire conditions.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.