Weather Explainers

On This Date: The Carolinas' Great Fire of 1898

On Feb. 16, 1898, after months of severe drought, multiple small fires merged into a massive conflagration when 50-mph winds swept across the Carolinas.

Beginning in the summer of 1897, a severe drought arrived in South Carolina. Newspapers reported it was the driest period between Christmas and February in living memory.

On Feb. 15, 1898, a dry cold front brought strong southwest winds to the area. Multiple fires ignited from various sources: coals blown from a turpentine still, train sparks and a hunter's rifle spark. These smaller events ranged from Aiken County, South Carolina, to Chatham County in North Carolina. Local residents began setting "counter fires" to protect their property.

The region was set up like a tinder box. The naval stores industry, which specialized in tar, turpentine, and rosin production, offered ample fuel for the fire. Poor logging practices had left heavy slash fuel accumulations in forests.

When the cold front accelerated with 50-mph winds on Feb. 16, these separate fires merged into a massive conflagration. Eventually 4,689 square miles would burn.

Records indicate at least 14 people died during the two-day event. While major towns were largely spared, significant ecological changes occurred. Some longleaf pine forests, which had thrived in the region prior to the arrival of Europeans, were permanently replaced by scrub oak.