Red Flag fire warning has been lifted across the Midlands for the weekend

A Red Flag Warning issued Wednesday for the Columbia area by the National Weather Service has been lifted, with the warning to expire Saturday morning.

The warning was issued because of conditions that are conductive to spreading fires. They include gusty winds and low relative humidity, creating the potential for outdoor fires to blaze out of control, the National Weather Service said.

Because of the high chance of rain forecast for this weekend, the agency is lifting the alert.

“Over the course of this week’s current Red Flag Fire Alert, the agency responded to more than 90 different wildfires,” said South Carolina Forestry Commission Fire Chief Darryl Jones. “The fact that we had so many ignitions in these three days – today included – speaks to the true danger of outdoor fires escaping easily and spreading rapidly that our alert warned people about.”

While the alert does not does not prohibit outdoor burning, provided that all other state and local regulations are followed, the Forestry Commission encourages citizens to postpone any such burning until the alert is lifted Saturday morning at 7 a.m.