PICKENS COUNTY — After more than a week, hundreds of man hours and resources from local, state and neighboring communities, wildfires continue to burn on Pinnacle Mountain in Table Rock State Park.
As of Monday, the blaze is estimated to have consumed over 5,000 acres inside a perimeter being maintained by fire crews. There have been no reports of injury or property loss due to the fire.
“The fire that breached a northern portion of the fire line yesterday (Saturday) along the Saluda River has run all the way to the top of Rocky Mountain and is still uncontained,” Denise Kwiatek, director of Pickens County Emergency Management, said Sunday evening. “The lines along the eastern perimeter of the containment area are holding well according to SC Forestry Commission officials.”
By Sunday night, the portion that escaped northern perimeter fire lines began moving northwest toward Buzzard Mountain. The S.C. Forestry Commission stated they were continuing their containment strategy of constructing “hand lines” around the area.
“The fire grew 244 acres overnight and the containment area — which does not include the spread toward Buzzard Mountain — now encompasses more than 5,400 acres,” said SCFC officials.
Officials maintain the blaze remains 35 percent contained.
“Nearly half of the 89 hand crew members on the mountain are devoted just to the northern division, focusing on this section of the breached line,” states the SCFC. “The western and southwestern fire lines are the best contained after successful burnouts. Most other personnel are concentrating their efforts on reinforcing and improving the lines on all other sides of the containment area.”
Air support, including a Black Hawk helicopter and two Chinook helicopters, continued to drop water on “hot spots” Monday and according to the SCFC, a Cessna 401 will be flying overhead to provide ground crews with aerial observations.
Fire personnel and Law enforcement will be patrolling the area for spot fires over the next few days and local residents are asked to continue to monitor the areas around their homes and to be vigilant of the areas in their neighborhoods.
Residents are also asked to avoid using Highway 11, Highway 178 North and South Saluda Road to reduce traffic and congestion around the fire area.
All Pickens County residents have been encouraged by PCEM to register their contact information with the Code Red Notification System that will deliver emergency alerts from PCEM in the event of evacuations.
To register your phone visit https://public.coderedweb.com/cne/en-US/C3C704C85B7D.
For those without internet access wanting the latest fire updates, call 864-898-5373. PCEM states the pre-recorded message will be periodically updated to reflect current conditions.
The SCFC states the total cost of the incident — including personnel, time and resources — has (to date) exceeded $1.6 million.
The South Carolina National Guard reported Monday morning it had dropped more than 1 million gallons of water on the Pinnacle Mountain wildfire since air support operations began more than a week ago.
