North Carolina
Crews fighting wildfires in South and North Carolina get help from lighter winds
Lighter winds Monday helped crews in South Carolina and North Carolina battle wildfires that caused evacuations and threatened hundreds of homes over the weekend.
Hundreds of firefighters from across the state managed to keep the massive blaze in Horry County near Myrtle Beach from destroying any homes despite social media videos of orange skies at night and flames engulfing pine trees just yards away.
The fire burned 2.5 square miles (6.5 square kilometers). It was the biggest fire in the area since a 2009 wildfire nearby did $42 million in damage and burned down about 75 homes.
The danger wasn’t over Monday. Officials in all of South Carolina banned almost all outdoor fires, including burning yard debris and campfires. They told residents to call 911 if they see a neighbor setting a fire.
“You can and will go to jail for starting a fire outdoors in South Carolina. Period,” Gov. Henry McMaster wrote on social media.
Burn bans were also in place in western North Carolina. Some residents in Polk County remained evacuated from their homes as fire crews Monday morning set their own blazes to burn possible wildfire fuel to make it easier to contain a 480-acre (190-hectare) fire that was about 30 percent contained.
Polk County is on the fringes of an area badly hit by Hurricane Helene last year. Fallen trees that have not been cleared are increasing the risk of fires across the region.
Teams work to contain the fires in Horry County at Lewis Ocean Bay Heritage Preserve and Wildlife Management property in South Carolina on March 3, 2025. Photo by SC Department of Natural Resources/ Anadolu via Getty Images
In eastern North Carolina, nearly 80 mostly small wildfires were reported in Robeson County. Emergency officials said 15 structures were damaged, but they did not give specifics on the types of buildings.
The North Carolina Forest Service reported more than 200 wildfires across the state Monday, although almost all of them were small and not threatening any structures.
Officials across the Carolinas warned of poor air quality because of smoke.
A drier-than-normal winter across the Carolinas combined over the weekend with high winds as a cold front without the usual rain that accompanies the weather systems in the South moved through the area to increase the fire danger.
The area near Myrtle Beach is one of the most dangerous for wildfires in South Carolina as hundreds of years of decomposing vegetation creates peat, which when it dries out can burn for a long time.
Pine trees and other waxy vegetation provide fuel for fires to rapidly spread in dry, windy conditions.
Horry County’s population has doubled to 400,000 people over the past 25 years. Many of those newcomers have moved into neighborhoods being rapidly built right next to the oval Carolina Bays where the peat and flammable vegetation all grows together. Fires have been part of the natural landscape of the bays for centuries.
Officials have not said what caused any of the fires.
North Carolina
North Carolina man extradited to Pa. for $100,000 ATM theft spree: police
A 42-year-old North Carolina man on Tuesday was extradited to Pennsylvania after state police said he stole more than $100,000 from ATMs in Snyder and Union counties.
Between Sept. 30 and Oct. 1, Antoni J. Garcia-Cordoba, of Raleigh, North Carolina, stole from four ATMs at Central Penn Bank and Trust locations, state police said.
In a five-hour span, Garcia-Cordoba took $43,000 from three separate ATMs in Snyder and Union counties, according to a police report. On Oct. 1, he stole an additional $58,000 from an ATM in Titusville, bringing the total amount stolen to $101,000.
Garcia-Cordoba is charged with two counts of corrupt organizations – employee, a first-degree felony, and two counts of theft by unlawful taking, a third-degree felony.
After being in custody at a jail in Boone County, Missouri, Garcia-Cordoba was extradited to Union County on Tuesday.
He is being held in the Union County Prison after being unable to post $100,000 bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Jan. 13, 2026.
North Carolina
11 firefighters and 2 others injured after North Carolina house fire and explosion
SALISBURY, N.C. — Eleven firefighters and two other people were injured in a house fire explosion in the Piedmont region of North Carolina, officials said.
Salisbury Fire Chief Bob Parnell said firefighters did not have life-threatening injuries but were getting treated for contusions, concussions and smoke inhalation following the fire Monday evening. Two other people were taken to the hospital, but Parnell said he didn’t know their conditions and couldn’t confirm whether they were in the house at the time of the fire.
The Salisbury Fire Department responded to the single-family home around 5 p.m. and found it engulfed in flames.
Eleven of the 22 firefighters at the scene went inside the house to search for occupants and “get water on that fire,” which preceded the explosion, Panell said at a news conference.
“It was enough force that the outside walls blew out, the roof came up and went back down,” Parnell said.
An investigation of the fire and explosion is continuing.
North Carolina
Harrison Bertos scores in OT to help Washington beat N.C. State 3-2 and win first Men’s College Cup
CARY, N.C. (AP) — Harrison Bertos scored 1:54 into overtime after Washington blew a two-goal lead in the second half, and the Huskies beat North Carolina State 3-2 to win the Men’s College Cup at First Horizon Stadium on Monday night.
It was the first national championship for unseeded Washington (16-6-2), who became the first team to win six road matches in the tournament — beating six seeded teams along the way under the guidance of coach Jamie Clark. The Huskies won in their second trip to the final after losing 2-0 to Clemson in 2021.
No. 15 seed N.C. State (16-3-4) made the final for the first time behind coach Marc Hubbard. The Wolfpack were aiming for the school’s first national championship since Jim Valvano led the men’s basketball team to the title in 1983.
Zach Ramsey scored unassisted with 1:12 remaining in the first half and Washington took a 1-0 lead into the break. It was only the second time this season that N.C. State trailed at halftime.
Ramsey scored into an empty net after Wolfpack goalkeeper Logan Erb couldn’t corral the ball at the top of the box. It was Ramsey’s second goal of the tournament.
Richie Aman sent a cross to the center of the goal and Joe Dale knocked it in for a 2-0 lead in the 62nd minute.
Donavan Phillip answered in the 66th, scoring with an assist from Nikola Markovic to cut it to 2-1 with his fourth goal of the tournament. The Wolfpack entered 11-0-1 when Phillip scores.
Taig Healy scored the equalizer with 3:28 remaining with assists from Justin Mclean and Calem Tommy.
Egor Akulov had an assist on Bertos’ winner.
Huskies keeper Jadon Bowton, the only remaining player from the 2021 squad, had five saves.
Erb saved six shots for N.C. State, which was the last school to concede a goal this season.
The temperature was 28 degrees when the match between two teams that had never faced each other began.
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