Carolinas await rain as firefighters gain upper hand on fires

Firefighters in the Carolinas appeared to be getting the upper hand on a bloom of wildfires that erupted over the weekend, even as a few new ones started amid the region's ongoing dry spell.

Firefighters in the Carolinas appeared to be getting the upper hand on a bloom of wildfires that erupted over the weekend, even as a few new ones started amid the region's ongoing dry spell.

In hard-hit South Carolina, a 1,600-acre blaze in the Carolina Forest community just outside the Myrtle Beach city limits was at least 30% contained, the South Carolina Forestry Commission said in a statement.

Imagery from the Myrtle Beach region Monday morning showed a shroud of smoke enveloping parts of the low-lying terrain and creating a wall of low visibility. Horry County Fire Rescue, the fire agency with local jurisdiction, said residents should beware of low visibility caused by smoke through Tuesday morning.

State and local firefighters were aided by two Black Hawk helicopters and a Chinook from the South Carolina National Guard, the guard said. The aircraft have dropped an estimated 60,000 gallons of water on the Carolina Forest fire, it said.

Residents who evacuated were allowed to return Sunday evening, Horry County Fire Rescue said in a statement. They had to contend with smoke so thick and dangerous that the agency advised motorists to stay off roads in the fire zone.