Statewide burn ban lifted for 44 counties today, March 5, at 5 p.m.

COLUMBIA – The State Forester’s Burning Ban will be lifted for all but two South Carolina counties at 5 p.m. today, Wednesday, March 5.

Horry and Georgetown counties will remain under the burning ban until further notice.

The statewide ban was issued Saturday in the interest of public safety during an intense outbreak of wildfires that included more than 100 ignitions, many of them major incidents.

The Forestry Commission is lifting the ban in the other 44 counties for several reasons. The dangerous combination of dry fuels and gusty winds that led to the elevated wildfire risk and subsequent spate of wildfires has eased temporarily, and the rain across the state today has improved conditions for the short term.

Underlying conditions, however, still warrant the need for caution on the part of those who choose to conduct outdoor burning, as drought and elevated fire risk are expected for the rest of March continuing through April.

The two counties to remain under the burning ban are still at elevated wildfire risk and are the scenes of large response efforts. The 2,000+ acre Covington Drive Fire just outside Myrtle Beach in Horry County remains the largest active incident in the state, involving hundreds of personnel and resources as part of the response effort. Another separate, though previously contained, wildfire in the same area has hotspots that agency firefighters continue to monitor.

In Georgetown County, the ongoing potential risk to residential areas from a contained, but uncontrolled, wildfire continues to require full support from local SCFC firefighters and other county response organizations.

Residents who may plan to conduct outdoor burning of residential yard debris or prescribed burns must still notify the Forestry Commission before doing so. Notification procedures as well as mandatory precautions for conducting burns may be found on the SCFC website: https://www.scfc.gov/protection/fire-burning/