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An "increased fire danger" warning has been issued as wildfires continue to rage in North and South Carolina.
According to The Independent, firefighters are continuing to respond to fires that broke out over the weekend in North and South Carolina. As winds are expected to pick up and humidity is set to drop, the National Weather Service said the affected areas are in "increased fire danger."
North Carolina Fire Services reported that they responded to over 800 wildfires from February 28 to March 3, with officials believing most were accidental fires caused by humans.
“Those 806 wildfires, those were human caused wildfires. So, we're not talking about lightning, we're talking about folks recreating; whether it was campfires, or it was just open burning," Philip Jackson of North Carolina Forest Service said in a statement.
The Carolina Forest fire, which broke out five miles north of Myrtle Beach, has been reported as the largest fire in the two states, torching more than 2,000 acres. The fire was 30 percent contained as of Monday (March 3) night.
Another wildfire spread almost 600 acres around the towns of Tyron and Saluda in Polk County, North Carolina. That fire was 63 percent contained as of Monday.
South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster declared a state of emergency over the weekend, and a state-wide burn ban was put into effect.
The Horry County Police Department warned drivers of limited visibility on the roads amid the fires.
“Due to the nearby wildfire incident, heavy smoke is expected in the Carolina Forest area through at least midday Tuesday,” the Horry County Police Department said in a statement. “And, while it may be worth driving with extra caution, we encourage the public to carefully go about living as they normally would while paying attention to incident updates."
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