Massive wildfire in Southeast Georgia

A rainfall deficit and strong winds converged to spawn wildfires across Georgia and the Southeast this weekend. Experts say more blazes could be on the horizon.

Wildfires are raging across Georgia and North and South Carolina. The last few weeks of dry, windy conditions in the South are extremely conducive to fire. Now hundreds of separate fires have caught and thousands of acres have burned, per Axios. Dozens of people have evacuated while firefighters combat the blazes.

A wildfire near Myrtle Beach is one of many to strike NC and SC as drought, low humidity and high winds challenge fire crews along with Hurricane Helene debris.

William Shane Harvey, 52, of Box Springs, was arrested Sunday and charged with arson of lands, according to the Georgia Forestry Commission. Harvey was taken into custody near the location of the wildfire, which burned northeast of Columbus, officials said.

Evacuation notices were issued where homes were close to flames, such as in the Grand Strand of South Carolina and the western region of North Carolina, including the community of Tryon, North Carolina. As of Sunday, local authorities had not reported any destroyed homes from the fires.

The downed power line that sparked a wildfire here that ultimately burned more than 600 acres in western North Carolina fell a couple hundred feet from where U.S. 176 has abruptly ended since Hurricane Helene washed away a section of roadway.