Firefighters fight wildfires in North and South Carolina despite dry weather and strong winds.

Crews battled wildfires in North and South Carolina on Sunday amid dry conditions and gusty winds as residents were forced to evacuate in some areas.

A heightened risk of wildfires was issued by the National Weather Service for the area due to a combination of extremely dry fuels and significantly low relative humidity levels.

In South Carolina, over 175 fires scorched 6.6 square miles (17 square kilometers), leading Governor Henry McMaster to declare a state of emergency on Sunday to aid in managing the wildfire response, while a ban on burning was enforced statewide.

Efforts to control a fire in the Carolina Forest region near Myrtle Beach, a coastal city, showed progress as evacuations were ordered for several neighborhoods, as reported by Horry County Fire Rescue. Footage captured individuals rushing down streets engulfed in smoke. Fortunately, by late Sunday afternoon, Carolina Forest residents were allowed to return home as announced by the fire department.

The South Carolina Forestry Commission estimated Sunday evening that the blaze had burned 2.5 square miles (6.5 square kilometers) with 30 percent of it contained. No structures had succumbed to the blaze and no injuries had been reported as of Sunday morning, officials said.

In North Carolina, the U.S. Forest Service said fire crews were working to contain multiple wildfires burning in four forests across the state on Sunday. The largest, about 400 acres (162 hectares), was at Uwharrie National Forest, about 50 miles (80.47 kilometers) east of Charlotte. The Forest Service said Sunday afternoon that it had made progress on the fire, reaching about one-third containment.

The small southwestern town of Tryon in Polk County, North Carolina, urged some residents to evacuate Saturday as a fire spread rapidly there. The evacuations remained in effect Sunday. A decision on whether to lift them was expected to be made Monday after intentional burns are set to try to stop the fire from spreading.

That fire has burned about 500 acres (202 hectares) as of late Sunday, with zero percent containment, according to the Polk County Emergency Management/Fire Marshal’s office. The North Carolina Forest Service was conducting water drops and back-burning operations on the ground, and area residents should expect a lot of smoke during those operations, officials said.

Officials have not said what caused any of the fires.