Upstate SC wildfires burn upwards of 2,000 acres
The Table Rock Fire in South Carolina's Upstate started late Friday, March 21, and has burned about 1,300 acres, according to the state Forestry Commission. (Photo provided by S.C. Forestry Commission)
A pair of wildfires that flared up over the weekend in South Carolina's Upstate have burned more than 2,000 acres combined.
Emergency officials are reporting no injuries and no home damage so far from the Table Rock Fire in Pickens County and Persimmon Ridge Fire in Greenville County, according to state Forestry Commission spokeswoman Michelle Johnson.
Neither fire is contained. A statewide burning ban remains in place until further notice.
Officials asked residents of about 100 homes just east of Table Rock State Park in Pickens County to voluntarily evacuate as the blaze, started by teenage hikers in the park, spread to about 1,300 acres over the past three days.
High winds, dry conditions and downed trees from Hurricane Helene fueled the fire's spread, prompting Gov. Henry McMaster to declare a state of emergency Saturday.
And on Monday, the Federal Emergency Management Agency approved South Carolina for federal aid. This allows the state to seek reimbursement for 75% of costs associated with battling the fires, including personnel costs and equipment, such as air tankers and bulldozers.
Pickens County sheriff's deputies first spotted the Table Rock Fire at about 5:45 p.m. Friday — 15 minutes before the statewide burning ban went into effect. The deputies were out searching for hiker Stephanie Womacks, who went missing from her campsite March 3.
'Unfortunately, their search was cut short due to the negligent act of some hikers that led to the forest fire,' Sheriff Blankenship said in a video posted to Facebook. 'Our deputies actually barely escaped the fire.'
The teens suspected of starting the fire have been identified and criminal charges are being considered.
Some eight miles to the northeast, a second fire started Saturday in the Mountain Bridge Wilderness Area between Caesars Head State Park and Jones Gap State Park, according to the state Forestry Commission.
That wildfire also was manmade.
Cliff Ridge, a gated subdivision near Caesars Head, and others in the area around Oil Camp Creek are most at risk. But officials have not called for evacuations at this time.
Planes and helicopters have been collecting water from Lake Jocassee and dumping it on the two fires. Responders added more aircraft to the fleet Monday, including a Chinook helicopter and two Black Hawk helicopters from the S.C. National Guard, a State Law Enforcement Division helicopter and two Forestry Commission air tankers.
To protect homes near Table Rock, firefighters built a 150-acre backburn — an intentional fire set to burn up any potential fuel and create a barrier. Officials set up a shelter at Holly Springs Community Center for evacuating residents.
The current fires stir memories of an earlier blaze.
The Pinnacle Mountain Fire — the largest mountain fire in state history at 10,000 acres — burned the same area of Pickens County in 2016 after a campfire set by some Boy Scouts camping in Table Rock State Park got out of control.
The fires also come on the heels of more than 175 wildfires sparked in Horry, Spartanburg, Oconee, Union and Pickens counties the first weekend of March, impacting more than 4,200 acres total, according to the State Fire Marshal.
The biggest, at more than 2,000 acres, was in the Myrtle Beach area. The Carolina Forest Fire, which melted fences and siding on homes in fast-growing Horry County, is now about 80% contained.
Wildfire season in South Carolina spans from late winter to early spring. In a typical year, the state responds to more than 5,000 wildfires, which burn nearly 30,000 acres — an area five times the size of Charleston's peninsula, according to the S.C. Emergency Management Division.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Charlotte high schooler rescued from national park after sustaining rattlesnake bite
A Charlotte 17-year-old was rescued from Pisgah National Forest after he was bitten by a timber rattlesnake on June 2. The Chapel Hill High student, who identified himself to the Charlotte Observer as Zain Shah, said he was bitten by a large rattlesnake, two miles from the nearest road. 'What started as a fun end-of-high-school fishing trip for my son and his buddy in the (western) NC mountains turned deadly when he was bitten by a timber rattlesnake deep in the woods,' the teen's father, Imran Shah, wrote on the N.C. Emergency Management Facebook page. READ: Fosters needed after dozens of dogs were seized from a Charlotte property The North Carolina Helo-Aquatic Rescue Team, or NCHART, responded to Avery County alongside the North Carolina National Guard and the Charlotte Fire Department. The State Emergency Operations Center dispatched a Blackhawk from the NC National Guard. Zain Shah said his friend was able to call 911, getting him the help he needed. And Zain Shah remembered to take a picture of the snake, to help doctors know which antivenom to use. When he arrived at the hospital, he was administered 12 vials of antivenom over the course of two nights and three days, the Charlotte Observer reports. Zain Shah said his graduation on Saturday wouldn't be happening if it weren't for the rescue teams. 'All of them saved my life. I wouldn't be here without the help of so many people,' Zain Shah says. 'I have ventured alone into the mountains before, but I'll never do that again. The buddy system only from now on, but this will not keep me from going back out there.' WATCH: Fosters needed after dozens of dogs were seized from a Charlotte property
Miami Herald
a day ago
- Miami Herald
Desperate teen reports rattlesnake bite in remote NC forest — miles from road
A high school student fishing in North Carolina's mountainous Pisgah National Forest found himself in a dangerous predicament when he was bitten by a large rattlesnake — more than 2 miles from the nearest road, the family says. Zain Shah, 17, identified himself as the bite victim, and he believes his June 14 graduation from Chapel Hill High wouldn't be happening had N.C. Emergency Management not mounted a multi-agency rescue that included the N.C. National Guard, the Charlotte Fire Department and Helo-Aquatic Search & Rescue. 'What started as a fun end-of-high-school fishing trip for my son and his buddy in the (western) NC mountains turned deadly when he was bitten by a timber rattlesnake deep in the woods,' the teen's father, Imran Shah, wrote on the N.C. Emergency Management Facebook page. 'I'm beyond grateful for the incredible (rescuers) who got to them in the middle of nowhere and saved his life! ... We are forever in your debt.' The bite happened around 5 p.m. Monday, June 2, along the banks of Lost Cove Creek, and ended with the teen being flown by helicopter to Johnson City Medical Center in Tennessee, Zain Shah told McClatchy News in a phone interview. Zain Shah and fishing buddy Kevin Foley, 18, came with a plan to fish until dark and then camp for the night, he says. The remote 500,000-acre forest, about a 100-mile drive northwest from Charlotte, is home to 'mile-high peaks, cascading waterfalls, and heavily forested slopes,' according to the U.S. Forest Service. 'Once we got there and fished a bit, we started wading up river and went completely off the trail, wading back and forth along the river and fishing,' Zain Shah says. 'At the point where we were about to turn back, I stepped over log and as my foot landed, I felt a prick. It was painless. I looked down and see a rattlesnake sitting there. I think: 'No way that just happened.' But I rolled down my sock and see two red dots and blood coming out. I knew it was potentially deadly.' He could not get cell service, but Foley's phone worked, and they quickly called 911 and were told it was too dangerous for them to try walking back to their vehicle, Zain Shah says. Timber rattlesnakes reach up to 7 feet (the average is 5 feet) and the venom is 'potent enough to kill a human,' the Smithsonian's National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute reports. Among the symptoms are 'an involuntary quivering of muscles,' internal bleeding and difficulty breathing, the National Library of Medicine says. Zain Shah says it wasn't long before his body began to tingle, followed by the feeling of his skin being pricked by pins and needles. There were also hints he was going into shock, he says. It was roughly two hours later that Zain Shah was hoisted up to a Black Hawk helicopter with the help of Avery County first responders. Once in a hospital, Zain Shah says his muted reaction to the venom hinted it may have been a 'dry bite' with little or no venom. However, blood work done at 4 a.m. Tuesday revealed dangerous changes in his system could lead to uncontrolled bleeding, he says. Twelve vials of antivenom were administered over three days in the hospital, he says. Shah says he photographed the 'mean looking' snake so doctors could more easily identify the type of venom. Dozens of people need to be thanked, he says, including the 911 operator who stayed on the phone with him for two hours, and particularly his fishing buddy, Kevin Foley, who served as a field nurse until Avery County EMTs arrived. Foley will also graduate from Chapel Hill High on June 14, Zain Shah says. 'All of them saved my life. I wouldn't be here without the help of so many people,' Zain Shah says. 'I have ventured alone into the mountains before, but I'll never do that again. The buddy system only from now on, but this will not keep me from going back out there.'
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Yahoo
Gov. McMaster again vetoes bill dismissing gun charge that hasn't been a crime for 15 months
A law passed in March 2024 made it legal for adults to carry a handgun openly or concealed without a permit. Legislation dismissing pending cases for unlawful carry was again vetoed by Gov. Henry McMaster on May 22, 2025. (Stock photo illustration by Getty Images) COLUMBIA — South Carolinians will continue to face sentencing for a gun charge that's no longer a crime after Gov. Henry McMaster again vetoed a bill erasing the pending cases. A law signed by McMaster 15 months ago made it legal for adults to carry handguns without a permit and allowed past convictions for unlawful carry to be expunged. It set a five-year deadline — until March 2029 — for expungement applications. One conviction per person can be expunged. But the law didn't address pending cases. Last year, McMaster vetoed legislation to dismiss those charges. The Legislature tried again this year with another version of the bill, which both chambers passed unanimously. But the governor vetoed that too. In his May 22 veto letter, the governor made clear his 'fundamental objections to the legislation remain unchanged.' As the state's former U.S. attorney and two-term attorney general, McMaster said he's wary of limiting prosecutors' authority and discretion to resolve those cases. 'Every case is unique and the prosecutors in our state should be permitted to evaluate each case based on law and the facts and then proceed as they deem appropriate,' McMaster wrote. The bill 'would universally strip prosecutors of the ability' to determine whether a case warrants dismissal or prosecution. Besides that, he wrote, it was a crime when they were charged. 'Their alleged actions were, in fact, unlawful,' he wrote. 'To be sure, those actions might not be illegal today, but that distinction misses the critical point that such actions were illegal at the time they were committed.' The question is whether the House will vote this time to override the governor's veto. Last year, the Senate voted unanimously to override the governor's veto, but it takes a supermajority vote in both chambers for a bill to become law despite a veto. And the House never took it up. So, the bill died. Last week, the Senate again voted unanimously to overrule the latest veto. The House never brought it up during the Legislature's one-day special session to adopt the budget. But this time, an override is still possible next year. House Judiciary Chairman Weston Newton said the chamber will likely take a vote when they return in January. The chamber's unanimous approval of the bill May 8 suggests an override won't be a problem, he said. 'It's dismissing charges that are no longer illegal for the purposes of consistency,' said the Bluffton Republican. Following passage in March 2024 of the law allowing any adult who can legally buy a handgun to carry it with or without a concealed carry permit, some solicitors dismissed older charges of unlawful possession on their own. But it wasn't automatic. Some solicitors didn't. As of February, 206 people in 11 of South Carolina's 16 judicial districts had charges pending for that crime alone, according to Lisa Catalanotto, the executive director for the state Commission on Prosecution Coordination. She didn't have numbers from the other five judicial districts. More cases have been dropped since she last collected the numbers in February, said Catalanotto, who didn't yet have an update. But a decline isn't good enough. No one should face conviction for something that's no longer a crime, said Sen. Deon Tedder, who was again the chief sponsor. This time, three Republicans joined him in co-sponsoring the legislation. 'We had to act as a Legislature. It's simply not fair,' said Tedder, D-Charleston. He voted against the bill that legalized carrying a handgun without a permit, which supporters dubbed 'constitutional carry.' But anyone charged with a crime the Legislature has determined is unconstitutional certainly shouldn't be convicted now, Tedder said. 'This fixes something that we missed,' he said. During legislative hearings, opponents of the bill argued some people charged with the crime were known violent offenders, and unlawful carry was just the crime they could be arrested for at the time to build a case. Catalanotto, with the prosecution commission, gave the example of a person who went to a former workplace with a gun, intending to shoot someone, but was chased away at the door. An officer arrested the person for unlawfully carrying a weapon with the intent to add additional charges later, she said. But Tedder pointed to a sentence in the law specifying that an 'immediate dismissal' isn't mandated if the charge was made 'in conjunction with any other criminal offense arising out of the same facts and circumstances. The bill also specifies that a dismissed charge can't be the basis of an unlawful arrest lawsuit — another concern of law enforcement that McMaster said in his veto letter he appreciated legislators addressing. 'We tightened this bill to do what it's supposed to do,' he said.
