HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WPDE) — Ten months after the Covington Drive wildfire scorched over 2,000 acres, concerns are mounting about the potential for another dramatic wildfire in Carolina Forest.
Despite controlled burns being a common method to reduce wildfire risk, Douglas Wood, director of communications for the South Carolina Forestry Commission, warns that the area remains vulnerable due to natural regrowth.
“You can remove fuel from an area so a large wildfire is less likely,” Wood said. “However, where prescribed burning is not done, just simple natural regrowth of vegetation is going to leave fuel in the area. So it’s a little, it’s a nuanced answer. So we talk about the benefits of prescribed burning, this area that burned last year, it still contains an immense amount of fuel, so it is not less likely to burn.”…