As the flames slowly disappeared over the weekend, the focus turned toward preventing additional fires or "spot overs" and to contain what remains of the massive wildfire.
The S.C. Forestry Commission has taken the lead in slowing the spread of the fire by plowing fire breaks and using large equipment to penetrate hot spots deep in the woods.
The area of main concern on Sunday was the section of International Drive that separates Black Creek Subdivision and Carolina Forest.
Dozens of foresters bulldozed what was described as a "dirt highway" around the area. To create fire breaks, the "fuel" (trees, underbrush, etc.) must be plowed away to expose a dirt surface.
In theory, when a fire hits the "break," it will stop, but as was demonstrated this week, a bare surface like Highway 22 (much bigger than any break dug so far) wasn't enough to stop the intense flames.
Another technique still being used regularly are water drops from Black Hawk helicopters. The S.C. National Guard has flown the choppers since early Thursday morning.
"This is the most dangerous mission a black hawk performs, having that weight suspended down below the black hawks," said Maj. Ted Vick with the S.C. National Guard.
The bambi buckets hanging from the helicopters hold 750 gallons of water.
"It'd be like picking up a car and a half, 2 cars, and putting it under the belly of this thing," said Vick, also a state representative.
Despite the significant progress made by firefighters and the S.C. Forestry Commission, there's still some threat -- though the fire level continues to diminish with each passing day.
"We have stressed, forestry has stressed that we are not out of the ball game yet. This is still a threat, and that's why we're going to be here not just for a couple days, but a couple of weeks, taking care of this," said Todd Cartner with Horry County Fire Rescue.
