Conway scrap fire contained after blocking Highway 544 traffic

3:18 p.m. Thursday was the dispatch time for a scrap metal pile fire that blocked Highway 544 traffic in Conway, South Carolina. By late afternoon, firefighters had contained the fire—but the pile was still burning and producing large amounts of smoke. Containment was progress, not the end of the operation. ²

The response on October 29 centered on Highway 544 between Highway 501 and Highway 501 Business in Horry County. By early Friday, October 30, no verified update established when the fire was fully extinguished, when traffic restrictions ended or how long the smoke actually persisted. Thursday’s blockages should not be read as a confirmed Friday road closure. ^{1 2}

Horry County Fire Rescue responded to the large pile, with the City of Conway Fire Department and Horry County Police Department assisting. WPDE reported the 3:18 p.m. dispatch time, citing the fire agency. That time establishes when crews were sent, not when the fire began; an ignition time has not been established. ²

Both WMBF and WPDE reported containment Thursday afternoon. WPDE also reported that crews were still working to extinguish the pile and that it was producing substantial smoke. Those details belong together: the containment announcement did not establish that the material had stopped burning or that firefighters were ready to leave. ^{1 2}

Horry County Fire Rescue warned that people would continue seeing smoke and firefighter activity for an extended duration. The agency did not put a number of hours on that warning. It described what people could expect after containment, rather than documenting how long those conditions ultimately lasted. ²

The scale of the pile is similarly unmeasured in the available accounts. WMBF described the fire as large, but neither report supplied a burned area, pile volume or material tonnage. The supported description is a large scrap metal pile requiring continued firefighting—not a quantified estimate of the amount involved. ^{1 2}

WPDE reported that Highway 544 traffic was blocked because of the fire response, while WMBF described road blockages and possible delays. Crews asked drivers to avoid the area both to reduce delays and to protect responders working at the scene. That request accompanied Thursday’s operation; it was not a separately verified Friday travel advisory. ^{1 2}

For drivers, the missing reopening time is consequential. A report that a road was blocked establishes a disruption, but without a later update it cannot tell a reader whether the route remains unavailable. The record supports Thursday’s blockage, not a claim that it continued overnight or into the Friday commute. ^{1 2}

The timing of the reporting also matters. The two incident accounts were published Thursday afternoon, at about 4:07 p.m. and 4:09 p.m. EDT. They describe the same afternoon response, rather than a newly confirmed Friday fire. Neither account supplies a later assessment establishing that flames were spreading after containment. ^{1 2}

Nor should the smoke warning be expanded into an air-quality finding. The reports establish visible smoke and an expectation that it would continue; they do not establish a verified Friday air-quality alert or a measured exposure level. The warning was about prolonged visible effects and response activity, without a specified endpoint. ^{1 2}

There is also no established injury status. Neither report provides casualty information, and that silence cannot support a declaration that nobody was hurt. The final supported outcome remains limited but clear: firefighters contained the pile, further extinguishment work was necessary, and Thursday traffic was disrupted. When those effects ended is still unconfirmed. ^{1 2}