A wildfire near the resort town Myrtle Beach threatened to intensify today after a lull overnight, when calm winds and firebreaks helped contain the blaze that demolished homes and roared through woods, AP reported. Accelerating winds were expected to feed hotspots and push the fire that has consumed 31 square miles (80 square kilometers) farther northward away from the undamaged Myrtle Beach tourist strip, forestry and county officials said. The fire has destroyed about 70 homes and damaged 100 others in the past three days, though it appears no additional homes had burned early Friday, said Holly Welch, a spokeswoman for the state Forestry Commission. County officials on Friday morning put early damage estimates at nearly $8.3 million. No injuries have been reported. Welch said the blaze was about 50 percent contained early Friday but noted the picture could darken with the slightest change in the weather. Winds blowing inland from the Atlantic coast have been feeding the fire and pushing it north. The blaze has headed away from the high-rise hotels that line Myrtle Beach, which anchors the state's $16 billion annual tourist industry. College students are drawn here for a cheap spring break destination, and families fill miles of budget hotels in the summer. The fire started several miles inland Wednesday and has cut a path 4 miles (6 kilometers) wide through tinder-dry scrubland but skipped its way through housing developments, decimating some homes while leaving their neighbors untouched. Forestry Commission Forest Protection Chief Darryl Jones says a blaze was set by a person burning yard debris.
