Blustery weather brings cold, dangerous conditions to Grand Strand (Update: Fires)

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Update 2/13/12: We warned of dangerous weather, with chances for fires and sadly those warnings came to fruition.

Due to the cold, dry, windy weather the area saw at least three fires over the weekend:

  • Saturday started with two brush fires down in Georgetown County in the Choppee Road and Williams Hill area, which destroyed 30 acres. Head on over to The Sun News for their write-up.
  • Late Saturday night the former location of the Seafare Restaurant burned down. The fire started around 9:20 p.m. and portions of Highway 17 shut down due to the blaze. The mystery fire destroyed the building, which was for lease and vacant since the end of last summer. SCnow.com has video and photos of the blaze
  • And lastly, there was a brush fire near Palmetto Point Road, the news spread quickly all over Twitter all day yesterday, Sunday, February 12. According to The Sun News the fires is fully contained now, and WMBF news reports that children caused the Palmetto point fire

First Report 2/11/12: While this afternoon should be relatively pleasant , late afternoon will bring a different story as temperatures drop and wind gusts increase.

Not only does this mean the wind chill will be well into freezing, but humidity levels will drop into critically low levels Sunday and Monday bringing greatly increased fire hazards. The South Carolina Forestry Commission has put out a red flag warning until further notice and the National Weather Service has issued a Hazardous Weather Outlook bulletin.

Bundle up, don't burn anything outdoors, and keep those cigarette butts in your car (where they belong, anyway.)

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