Rain helps slow Upstate wildfires, as some evacuations shift to voluntary

Yahoo

31-03-2025

Table Rock in northern Pickens County is obscured by smoke from a wildfire on Friday, March 28, 2025. (Photo by Mark Susko/Special to the SC Daily Gazette)
Firefighters have begun to contain wildfires in the Upstate, with the help of some weekend rain.
Together, the two fires burning in Greenville and Pickens counties grew to more than 13,500 acres over the weekend. By Saturday, the Table Rock wildfire in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains had become the largest, single mountain fire in state history.
Neither grew significantly between Sunday and Monday, with help from rain and increasing containment, according to a Monday update from the state Forestry Commission.
As of Monday morning, the Table Rock fire was 30% contained, and the Persimmon Ridge fire was 64% contained, according to the commission. That was a big improvement from Friday, a week after the first fire started, when both were at 0% containment.
'Yesterday's rainfall, coupled with the strong firefighting efforts over the past several days, have allowed us to make great progress on the fires,' Mike Brod, who oversees a team of firefighters, said in a Monday morning update.
No homes had been damaged, and no injuries or deaths had been reported as of Monday, according to the commission.
People in Pickens County were allowed to return home Saturday evening as evacuations shifted from mandatory to voluntary. Greenville County residents nearest the blaze on Persimmon Ridge remained under mandatory evacuation orders.
No injuries or damage to structures as SC wildfires expand past 10,000 acres
The larger Table Rock fire, which was burning at more than 12,500 acres Monday, jumped the North Carolina border Sunday, igniting more than 500 acres over the state line in Transylvania County.
Officials planned to focus Monday on the northern and eastern edges of the Table Rock fire where the fire was smoldering. The half-inch or so of rain that fell Sunday will allow firefighters to work much closer to the flames, preventing them from spreading, Brod said.
The eastern edge of the Persimmon Ridge Fire was also a concern, since the flames had reached debris leftover from Hurricane Helene. Crews planned to break up the piles of debris to reduce fuel for the fire, Brod said.
More rain is expected Monday, with the National Weather Service predicting thunderstorms throughout the day Monday and again Wednesday.
Following the weekend rain showers, officials lifted a statewide burn ban for all but five counties.
Residents in Greenville, Horry, Oconee, Pickens and Spartanburg counties still may not set fires outdoors because resources are already stretched thin fighting fires in those areas, according to a news release.
Both fires were set by people. Four teenage hikers have been questioned by police about the Table Rock fire, and 'charges are pending,' according to the latest update from the Pickens County Sheriff's Office.