COLUMBIA, S.C.—The Carolinas fought wildfires severe enough for evacuation orders and the South Carolina governor declared a state of emergency. Images of inferno-like blazes spawned by heavy wind gusts horrified residents to flee and seek available alternative shelter.
Wildland fires are particularly concerning for U.S. states after apocalyptic-like fires ravaged parts of California in January, taking 29 lives, upending thousands more, and scorching billions of dollars in properties and land. For South Carolina, which typically has a wildfire season from March through June, fire events are not unheard of.
“March is historically our worst month for wildfire,” said the South Carolina Forestry Commission website. More than 175 wildfires burned across the Palmetto state, destroying more than 4,200 acres.
Horry County flames near Myrtle Beach, the 60-mile arc of beach land and vacation properties were threatened as more than 1,200 acres burned, although no loss of properties or life was reported.
The largest of the fires erupted on March 1 in Carolina Forest, a community 25 minutes west of Myrtle Beach, and drove residents out of their homes under evacuation orders.
Although residents were allowed to return by presstime, air quality alerts remained in place from the thick lingering smoke in the aftermath. By March 3, the Carolina Forest-area fire grew to over 2,000 acres, and 30 percent contained, reported the South Carolina Forestry Commission.
“The top of the trees really lit up with the big fire, and black smoke was just pouring right on top of everything,” Dennis Sprecher, who lives in the Walkers Woods community, near Carolina Forest, told NBC affiliate WMBF of Myrtle Beach on March 2.
“You just see the raging fire heading towards the houses and everything. I didn’t realize how bad the fire was. You just hear, like, a tornado going out in the middle of the trees,” he added.
South Carolina experienced very little rainfall in February, contributing to a Level 2 moderate drought across parts of the state. Sustained winds of 15-20 mph and humidity levels dropping to 20 percent fires can easily spark and spread.
In forecasts on March 3, the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) released outlook maps and highlighted at-risk areas in the coming months for wildfires. Georgia and South Carolina are at ‘Above Normal’ Wildland Fire Potential through June 2025.
In North Carolina, all wildfires were reportedly “contained in some capacity,” according to the U.S. Forest Service, reported Yahoo News. “Emergency officials said 15 structures had been damaged by the fires in Robseon County, which experienced nearly 80 fires since Saturday [March 1],” reported yahoo.com.
“A brush fire in the Blue Ridge Mountains area was threatening some small communities about 40 miles south of Asheville and had burned around 500 acres. Around 30% of the fire was contained by late Sunday [March 2] evening, according to Polk County Emergency Management.
One of the largest fires was at Uwharrie National Forest, about 50 miles east of Charlotte. The Forest Service reported Sunday [March 2] night that it was roughly 30% contained and had burned over 410 acres after beginning sometime Saturday [March 1] afternoon.”
As firefighters and responders mitigated the fires, additional weather calamities headed toward the Carolinas from across the country. The storm system carried rain, hail, high winds, and mixed conditions for tornadoes.
North Carolina, South Carolina and other parts of the country are experiencing the Power of Allah (God) and His Forces of nature because America is under Divine Judgment.
The Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, the Eternal Leader of the Nation of Islam, and his National Representative, the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, spent decades warning America, that the Wrath of Allah (God) was forthcoming due to her wickedness committed on the Black man and woman of America.
The Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad taught that Allah (God) would use the forces of nature to punish America, and the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan has trumpeted his teacher’s warnings and repeatedly cautioned: “Watch the weather.”
In a Saviours’ Day message titled, “Repent For the Kingdom of God Is At Hand,” delivered Feb. 23, Minister Farrakhan, through his Student National Assistant Minister Ishmael Muhammad, explained the increasing weather calamities striking in America.
The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan has been telling us for years to “watch the weather,” explained Student Minister Ishmael Muhammad. “Fire on one side of the country, ice and storms on the other side, extreme weather events striking the country, not only here in America, but all over the world,” he said.
“The events are telling us that we have entered into a very serious and troubled time, a time that the Prophet Daniel said, has never been and never to be equal,” continued Student Min. Ishmael Muhammad.
The Honorable Elijah Muhammad wrote in “The Fall of America,” that the worst is yet to come, but there is a chance for an extension of time, he told the audience. “It takes justice to postpone the dreadful days of America,” he added.
—Brian E. Muhammad, Staff Writer
