Month: March 2025

South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster declared a State of Emergency as thousands of South Carolina residents remain under an evacuation order after wildfires have affected as least 1,200 acres across the state.

The South Carolina State Fire Marshal said Sunday that firefighters were battling 175 wildfires that erupted across South and North Carolina amid windy and dry conditions, threatening homes and prompting evacuations, in an ongoing response operations to more than 175 wildfires that have burned a combined 4,200 acres across the state — including blazes burning in Horry, Spartanburg, Oconee, Union and Pickens counties.

One of the biggest wildfires raging Sunday morning was threatening residents in the Carolina Forest near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, in Horry County, as well as the quick-spreading fire in the Carolina Forest which has burned more than 1,200 acres by Sunday morning and was threatening the communities of Walker Woods and Avalon, according to the South Carolina Forest Commission. The fire was 0% contained, officials said.

Governor McMaster said in a statement: “This State of Emergency ensures that our first responders, who are working tirelessly and risking their lives to protect our communities from these wildfires, have the resources they need, Dangerous wildfire conditions require that a statewide burning ban remain in effect until further notice. Those who violate this ban will be subject to criminal prosecution.”

As of March 1, 2025, the South Carolina Forestry Commission issued a State Forester’s Burning Ban for all counties. The ban prohibits all outdoor burning, including yard debris burning, prescribed burning and campfires: “While a majority of the current wildfire activity is concentrated in the Pee Dee region, the rest of the state is experiencing a dramatic uptick in wildfires, straining the capacity of Forestry Commission firefighters and local emergency response personnel to respond.”

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On Sunday, Israel said is has stopped the entry of all humanitarian aid into Gaza until Hamas agrees to an extension of the ceasefire deal — coming after phase one of the deal expired on Saturday. The two sides have yet to negotiate the second phase, in which Hamas was to release dozens of remaining hostages in return for an Israeli pullout from Gaza and a lasting ceasefire.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office warned of “further consequences” after it stopped the entry of all goods and supplies into the Gaza Strip on Sunday. A statement read: “Israel will not allow a ceasefire without the release of our hostages. If Hamas continues its refusal, there will be further consequences.”

Netanyahu said he backed a US proposal to temporarily extend the current ceasefire during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan and the Jewish holiday Passover, which envisions half the hostages held in Gaza being released on the day the deal begins. Hamas immediately rejected the plan, saying that Netanyahu and his government was carrying out “a blatant coup against the ceasefire deal” that had already been agreed.

Hamas has said it is willing to free the hostages all at once in Phase 2, but only in return for the release of more Palestinian prisoners, a permanent ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli forces. Meanwhile, an Egyptian official said Hamas and Egypt would not accept a new proposal aimed at returning the remaining hostages without ending the war.

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