In 2025, fire departments serving Horry County responded to 3,299 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $20.0M property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire lead by count. Top five categories make up about 41% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Aug dips.
14,354 incidents from 2021 through 2025.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 2,770 | |
| 2022 | 2,615 | |
| 2023 | 2,661 | |
| 2024 | 3,009 | |
| 2025 | 3,299 |
For the 318 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Largest single-incident property losses in Horry County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 69% of the county's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $20,000,000 | Myrtle Beach | Building fires | Catastrophic |
| 2 | $1,120,000 | LITTLE RIVER | Building fires | Major |
| 3 | $800,000 | CONWAY | Passenger vehicle fire | Major |
| 4 | $500,000 | NORTH MYRTLE BEACH | Building fires | Major |
| 5 | $400,000 | CONWAY | Building fires | Major |
| 6 | $400,000 | MYRTLE BEACH | Building fires | Major |
| 7 | $375,000 | CONWAY | Building fires | Major |
| 8 | $350,000 | LITTLE RIVER | Building fires | Major |
| 9 | $300,000 | MYRTLE BEACH | Building fires | Major |
| 10 | $300,000 | LITTLE RIVER | Water vehicle fire | Major |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.
12 cities mapped to FIPS 45051.
| City | Population | |
|---|---|---|
| Myrtle Beach | 36,064 | View › |
| Conway | 25,121 | View › |
| Carolina Forest | 24,823 | View › |
| Socastee | 24,464 | View › |
| North Myrtle Beach | 18,850 | View › |
| Red Hill | 15,585 | View › |
| Garden City | 10,885 | View › |
| Little River | 9,815 | View › |
| Forestbrook | 7,414 | View › |
| Surfside Beach | 4,179 | View › |
| Loris | 2,513 | View › |
| Homewood | 1,290 | View › |
4 departments report from this county.
Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).
| # | Name | Year | Agency | Acres |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Turn Table | 2017 | USFS | 1,694 |
| 2 | SCWAR-FY19-RX-Sandy Island 2019 | 2019 | PRI | 1,655 |
| 3 | Memorial | 2019 | USFS | 1,635 |
| 4 | Cumbee | 2018 | USFS | 1,629 |
| 5 | Bullhead | 2017 | USFS | 1,115 |
| 6 | SCCRR-FY19-RX-0803 | 2019 | FWS | 1,038 |
| 7 | Mill Mountain | 2023 | USFS | 935 |
| 8 | Keepers Branch | 2018 | USFS | 766 |
| 9 | SCCRR-FY19-RX-0704 | 2019 | FWS | 730 |
| 10 | Calestown | 2018 | USFS | 616 |
County-level NFIRS aggregates for 2025, plus 5-year totals across 2021–2025. NFIRS is voluntary — about 23,000 of roughly 30,000 US fire departments report — so totals are a strong indicator, not a complete census. Wildfire risk score (0–100) and Expected Annual Loss come from FEMA's National Risk Index. Drought class is the most recent USDM classification (D0 = abnormally dry through D4 = exceptional drought). Historical fire perimeters are sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History.