tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2555803689501918722012-02-16T20:08:19.560-08:00Indrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12958131527424420075noreply@blogger.comBlogger11100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-255580368950191872.post-68878503515837868642009-04-23T05:58:00.000-07:002009-04-23T05:59:59.616-07:00NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (AP) — A coastal wildfire spread early Thursday toward one of the busiest tourist stretches in South Carolina after destroying more than three dozen homes.<br />No injuries had been reported in the fire that started Wednesday afternoon west of Myrtle Beach, but officials said gusty winds were making the situation worse.<br />The fire jumped a state highway near North Myrtle Beach and destroyed about 40 homes early Thursday, said Scott Hawkins, a spokesman for the South Carolina Forestry Commission.<br />In North Myrtle Beach near the North Carolina state line, officials began evacuating about 2,500 people in a four-mile stretch west of Highway 17, city spokesman Nicole Aiello said.<br />Shelters were set up at North Myrtle Beach City Hall and the House of Blues at Barefoot Landing, she said.<br />The blaze jumped the busy six-lane Coastal Bays Parkway on Wednesday, stopping not far from the Intracoastal Waterway. Firefighters were expecting the waterway to act as a natural firebreak, protecting the larger city of Myrtle Beach.<br />A gray-white smoke had engulfed restaurant row between Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle Beach on Wednesday evening. It looked like a winter fog, with car headlights and neon signs peeking through the haze.<br />Tourists watched the smoke move over the tree line at the Cane Patch driving range, where one of the holes on the par-3 course was on fire Wednesday night, said cashier John Paulhus.<br />"We can see the smoke clearly from here," he said. "A lot of them have come in and inquired about it. I think it's more curiosity than anything else."<br />A cause has not been determined for the fire that began around noon in woods about six miles east of Conway, Horry County Fire Rescue spokesman Todd Cartner said.<br />The fire had spread into several Carolina Bays, geographic structures full of organic material that fuel the blaze. Tropical downpours are often needed to extinguish the burning peat, Hawkins said.<br />"When a bay starts burning, they burn for a long, long time," Hawkins said.<br />Jo Hillman, 52, joined her husband, Chuck, and 13 other people at a shelter set up at the Tilly Swamp Baptist Church about midway between Conway and North Myrtle Beach.<br />As a prayer meeting went on inside, the couple recalled the tense moments as the fire started spreading.<br />"First they said 'You've got 15 minutes.' Then they said 'Get out now,'" Jo Hillman said.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/255580368950191872-6887850351583786864?l=myrtlebeachfires.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Indrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12958131527424420075noreply@blogger.com0