Those who live along the East Coast may know Myrtle Beach as a premier travel destination in the spring. The region’s white sand beaches, warm water and friendly atmosphere make it the ideal place to enjoy the weather before the oppressive heat of the summer sets in. Unfortunately, travel plans to the gorgeous coastline may be in jeopardy in the coming months, as Myrtle Beach is being ravaged by a series of brutal wildfires. These span hundreds of individual blazes all over North and South Carolina, extending as far West as Georgia. Even the areas that aren’t afflicted with wildfires are being peppered with an oppressive haze of smoke from the multiple infernos, rendering the whole area unsafe for the general public.
Whether you’re interested in visiting the Myrtle Beach area sometime soon, or just concerned for the safety and wellbeing of full-time Carolina residents, we’ve got you covered. We’ll briefly run through the situation, explain where these fires are coming from, and outline when the coastline and the Outer Banks will be safe for tourism travel again. With no time to waste let’s dive right in, and unpack everything we can regarding the historic 2025 fires across North and South Carolina.
How Did These Fires Begin?
First responders have been busy battling the wildfires across the Carolinas since late February into early March. The blazes, which include hundreds of individual small brush fires, can be found all over the two Southern states, from the national forests to the choppy edges of the coast. For now, there’s little explanation as to how these infernos began, save for the perfect storm of dry weather conditions that enable them to spread out of control. The entire American Southeast has been experiencing a significant lack of rain, unusually low humidity and wind storms which have swept dry debris all across the forest floors. All of these things combined mean that something as simple as a downed power line or a controlled burn could expand rapidly and become impossible to tame.
In the case of these fires, more than 375 total blazes have been reported across both North and South Carolina, including many that have created dangerous conditions in and around Myrtle Beach. South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster has even called a state of emergency regarding the fires. He enlisted the help of the National Guard. UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters were mobilized over the weekend to drop thousands of gallons of water from the skies, which has significantly halted the spread of the many fires. Even still, travelers are being told to evacuate and avoid the area until further notice, as there’s still a high potential for the fires to merge into much larger infernos.
Where Exactly Is the Fire In Myrtle Beach?
While the wildfires are raging all across the region, there are a few specific portions of the Myrtle Beach area suffering the most. Local photographers captured harrowing photo and video evidence of firefighters battling it out with a raging fire on Carolina Forest Boulevard. This particular blaze encompasses the entire Walker Woods, Waterbridge and Avalon areas, and has resulted in a widespread evacuation order in Horry County. Like other portions of the state, the Carolina Forest Boulevard blaze was brought on by some basic smoldering in the thick brushes of the trees and has grown to contribute sizable damage to the surrounding flora. Luckily, no structures have been completely destroyed at the time of this writing, and nobody has been injured in the fire, including first responders.
By late Monday (Mar. 3) evening, reps for the South Carolina Forestry Commission announced that the fires around Carolina Forest Boulevard had been contained by roughly 30 percent. Responders are anticipating the blaze to continue dying down throughout the week as rain and humid conditions are expected through Wednesday. In the meantime, forestry crews have begun combing the unaffected portions of woodland in Myrtle Beach neighborhoods such as Covington Drive, in order to mitigate the risk of new fires popping up. Bulldozers and tractors have been dispatched by the state government to dig perimeter lines in case any of the neighboring fires make their way down the coast, though Horry County officials seem confident that no further evacuation orders will be necessary.
What State Has the Most Wildfires Right Now?
Though it may be shocking to hear that the Carolinas have amassed hundreds upon hundreds of individual fires all at once, you may be even more shocked to learn that these aren’t the states with the most chaotic wildfires right now. By nearly all metrics, California is far and away the most at-risk state in the union in terms of fires, with millions of acres burned per year. Part of this can be attributed to the rough, dry climate in the west, as well as its parched and sprawling national forests and its massive size. Even still, fires have been getting worse in Southern California and across the United States in recent years due to the increasing impact of man-made climate change.
By this same token, North Carolina is generally considered to be one of the more stable states in the country in terms of fire safety, due to high humidity, frequent rain and access to fresh water sources. As the tides continue to turn in the coming years, we may be seeing more wildfires breaking out across the Carolinas, especially as the Trump administration guts climate change bills and past initiatives. While it appears as though the current swath of wildfires will be cleared out of the Myrtle Beach area in time for spring break, it’s tough to say what kind of significant ecological turmoil this situation could cause in the long run.
