No injuries or damage to structures as SC wildfires expand past 10,000 acres
Wildfires in the Upstate have grown exponentially over the past week, forcing mandatory evacuations as weather conditions and debris from Hurricane Helene impede efforts to stop the flames spreading.
No structures have been damaged, and no injuries or deaths have been reported, officials said during a Friday media briefing, one week after the first of the two fires started.
Together, the fires in Greenville and Pickens counties had burned more than 10,600 total acres as of Friday morning, officials said. Both fires, which officials said were manmade, remained 0% contained. A statewide burn ban remains in effect.
Four teenage hikers have been questioned by police about the Table Rock fire, and 'charges are pending,' according to the Pickens County Sheriff's Office.
For more information
Call (864) 467-3428 between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. for more information on evacuations and shelters.
Source: SC Forestry Commission
The fires prompted mandatory evacuations for people nearest the flames. About 1,400 homes were evacuated as of Thursday morning, according to Greenville County Emergency Management. A shelter set up at Marietta First Baptist Church had about 20 people staying there Friday morning, said Kim Stenson, director of the state Emergency Management Division.
The fire is the largest mountain wildfire in state history, surpassing a 2016 fire in the same area that burned 10,000 acres.
'We've never had a fire quite like this,' Gov. Henry McMaster said.
Downed trees and other debris knocked loose when Hurricane Helene hit the state as a tropical storm in September are complicating matters, said Scott Phillips, head of the state Forestry Commission. Firefighters are struggling to get equipment onto paths blocked by the storm. Some trees fell across established fire breaks, meaning crews have to saw through logs to keep the fire from spreading even further.
Dried-out timber also created more fuel for the fire. While that hasn't been the primary concern yet, it could become a much bigger issue of the flames reach areas where timber cleared from roads still sits in stacks, Phillips said.
The debris 'is going to change the way we have to attack fires in the mountains of South Carolina and in the Hurricane Helene-impacted areas,' Phillips said.
High winds combined with recent dry conditions have made the fires particularly difficult to contain. Crews have been working to create perimeters cleared of debris that the fire can't cross, but the wind has carried embers from the Table Rock over barriers as wide as 40 feet, Phillips said.
'With these fires and the conditions we're facing in the state right now, the dryness of the fuel, the extreme low humidities, the high winds that we're having, containment is very, very difficult to achieve,' Phillips said.
Embers ignited parts of Table Rock State Park earlier this week, Phillips said. Table Rock, Caesars Head and Jones Gap state parks remained closed Friday, according to the state parks department.
State Law Enforcement Division and National Guard teams had dropped more than 700,000 gallons of water on the fire by Friday, agency directors said. Air tankers dropped thousands of gallons of fire retardant along the northern edge of the fires Thursday, according to the Forestry Commission. Among them was a very large air tanker, which the commission used for the first time in the state.
SLED has also been helping police monitor evacuated neighborhoods to prevent looting and keep roads clear of spectators who have been congregating, said SLED Chief Mark Keel.
Much of the firefighters' focus has been on protecting nearby structures, officials said. One way of doing that is through burnout operations, in which crews intentionally light fires they can closely monitor to reduce the fuel leading up to buildings, slowing the uncontrolled wildfire.
The fires are visible from miles around, said House Majority Leader Davey Hiott, who lives about 7 miles from the blaze in Pickens. His home isn't within the current evacuation zone, but he can see the glow of the fire on the side of the mountain from his front porch, he said.
Upstate SC wildfires burn upwards of 2,000 acres
'There's smoke everywhere,' Hiott said.
The high winds died down slightly Friday, helping matters somewhat, officials said. The National Weather Service is predicting rain Sunday and Monday, which could help firefighters control the blaze.
'Pray for the men and women out here, and pray for rain,' Hiott said.
A fire near Myrtle Beach that ignited last month continues to burn. At about 2,000 acres, that fire is about 85% contained and has damaged no structures or killed any people, Phillips said.
This month, the Forestry Commission has responded to more than 370 fires that burned more than 18,000 acres total, Phillips said. That's 'orders of magnitude' more than the commission usually sees in a month, and more than it has seen in some years, he said.
April is typically the busiest month for forest fires, Phillips said.
'This is going to be a long season for us as we move forward,' he said.
Smoke from the Table Rock wildfire envelops Saluda Hill Baptist Church in Cleveland, S.C., on Friday, March 28, 2025. (Photo by Mark Susko/Special to the SC Daily Gazette)
Smoke from a wildfire obscures Table Rock in northern Pickens County on Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (Photo by Mark Susko/Special to the SC Daily Gazette)
Smoke from the Table Rock wildfire in northern Pickens County obscures the sun on Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (Photo by Mark Susko/Special to the SC Daily Gazette)
Smoke from the Table Rock wildfire fills the skies in northern Pickens County near sundown on Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (Photo by Mark Susko/Special to the SC Daily Gazette)
Sun shines through smoke from the Table Rock wildfire in northern Pickens County on Friday, March 28, 2025. (Photo by Mark Susko/Special to the SC Daily Gazette)
Smoke from the Table Rock wildfire in northern Pickens County near the North Carolina border can be seen on Friday, March 28, 2025. (Photo by Mark Susko/Special to the SC Daily Gazette)
Pickens County Sheriff's deputies block traffic on S.C. Highway 11, also known as Cherokee Foothills Scenic Highway, due to the Table Rock wildfire on Friday, March 28, 2025. (Photo by Mark Susko/Special to the SC Daily Gazette)
Smoke from the Table Rock wildfire envelops the Cherokee Foothills Scenic Highway (S.C. Highway 11) in northern Pickens County on Friday, March 28, 2025. (Photo by Mark Susko/Special to the SC Daily Gazette)
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)
Smoke from the Table Rock wildfire in northern Pickens County near the North Carolina border can be seen on Friday, March 28, 2025. (Photo by Mark Susko/Special to the SC Daily Gazette)
A sign alerts traffic to a road closure due to the Table Rock wildfire in northern Pickens County on Friday, March 28, 2025. (Photo by Mark Susko/Special to the SC Daily Gazette)
Sun shines through smoke from the Table Rock wildfire along a river near S.C. Highway 11 on Friday, March 28, 2025. (Photo by Mark Susko/Special to the SC Daily Gazette)
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)
A sign alerts traffic to a road closure due to the Table Rock wildfire in northern Pickens County on Friday, March 28, 2025. (Photo by Mark Susko/Special to the SC Daily Gazette)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
27 minutes ago
- Yahoo
National Hurricane Center eyes two potential storms, in addition to Hurricane Erin
As if on cue, storm activity is increasing in the Atlantic Ocean as the 2025 hurricane season reaches the time of year when peak activity traditionally begins. In addition to major Hurricane Erin, the National Hurricane Center is watching a potential tropical disturbance in the eastern Atlantic. A westward-moving tropical wave could produce an area of low pressure in the tropical Atlantic late in the week of Aug. 18, the hurricane center said on Aug. 16. The center shows a 20% chance of storm formation over the next week. If the wave becomes the next named tropical storm, it would receive the name Fernand. Yes, that's right, Fernand. A long-term outlook from the Climate Prediction Center of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration also shows the potential for storm formation increasing between the eastern Caribbean and the African coast. It lists the chances of storm formation in the central tropical Atlantic at greater than 40% during the seven-day period beginning on Aug. 20. The peak period of the annual six-month hurricane season in the Atlantic traditionally begins in mid-August and continues through late October. Outlooks for the 2025 season have called for busier-than-normal activity, including recent updates from NOAA and Colorado State University. Hurricane Erin, which formed on Aug. 15, quickly exploded into a Category 5 storm with sustained minimum winds of 160 mph on Aug. 16 as it moved westward north of the Leeward Islands and Puerto Rico. Erin is the fifth-named storm of the season Another potential disturbance is shown a couple of hundred miles east of the North Carolina coast, but the hurricane center reports only a 10% chance of development before it moves into an unfavorable environment on Monday, Aug. 18. Dinah Voyles Pulver covers climate change and the environment for USA TODAY. She's written about hurricanes, tornadoes and violent weather for more than 30 years. Reach her at dpulver@ or @dinahvp on Bluesky or X or dinahvp.77 on Signal. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: National Hurricane Center eyes 2 possible storms beyond Hurricane Erin
New York Times
7 hours ago
- New York Times
Erin, First Atlantic Hurricane This Year, Quickly Strengthens to Category 5
As Erin moves west toward the Caribbean islands and the official forecast from the National Hurricane Center shows the storm likely beginning to curve — potentially even away from the United States — the center's forecasters have exercised caution, consistently warning that there is a 'greater than normal uncertainty' about where the storm will go after the weekend. But why? The uncertainty has to do with quite a few factors, but a main one is the output of the computer weather models that help meteorologists make their forecasts. Specifically, it's a type of map called a spaghetti plot showing where a computer simulation predicts the center of the storm will be five, seven or even 14 days in the future. These mapped model outputs get their name from their resemblance to long strands of pasta. The closer the lines are together, the more confidence forecasters have in what the storm might do, because it means many of the models agree with one another. For the next few days, there is a pretty reliable consensus that the storm will track northwest. But how much and when it might turn north or even northeast are still big questions. 'The confidence in the predicted location is less at, say, five days, than at two days,' said Richard Pasch, an expert at the Hurricane Center. 'In the case of Erin, the model spread increases beyond five days, but not unusually so.' 'It should be noted,' he added, 'that the typically greater uncertainty in the forecasts at six and seven days is the main reason why the National Hurricane Center does not currently issue official forecasts at these longer time ranges.' In 2017, Hurricane Irma, which formed in a similar position to Erin's, was forecast to make a similar curve, but instead it kept moving west, hitting the Caribbean islands and eventually disrupting the west coast of Florida. And Erin is currently in a similar position in the Atlantic Ocean to where Hurricane Lee was in 2023, which did make a turn, allowing it to pass over cooler waters and weaken before hitting Canada. Then there was Hurricane Gloria in 1985, another storm with a similar path to Erin's, which knocked out power to millions of customers and disrupted the lives of millions of people from North Carolina to New England. Previous storm paths The New York Times 'I thought a Gloria track might be possible, but it is looking pretty unlikely that we will see a U.S. landfall from Erin,' Phil Klotzbach, a hurricane expert at Colorado State University, said on Thursday afternoon. One of the hardest parts of any hurricane forecast is trying to predict when a storm will turn and how much of a turn it might make. Forecasters like Mr. Klotzbach look for a pattern to help build their confidence around where a storm is most likely to go. The computer models typically run four times a day. After each, forecasters look to see if there have been changes from the last one. Consistency between outputs is one thing forecasters watch for. But if there is a significant change, they usually wait for another model run to make substantial adjustments to the guidance they turn around and share with the public. They aren't just worried about where the storm will go — they are also concerned about how intense the storm might become. While forecasters can use one model to monitor intensity, they usually prefer to look at all of them. To do this, they often plot different forecast intensities on a chart that progresses over time. This line plot gives forecasters an idea of what could happen. Similar to the map plots, the tighter the lines are together between models, the more confident the forecasters are about the intensity. Sometimes they might say the official forecast is below the model guidance, or, as happened Thursday morning, they may say the official forecast is below some of the guidance. This suggests that some models indicate Erin could strengthen more than expected over the next five days. As of Thursday afternoon, the Hurricane Center is saying Erin could grow at least as strong as Category 3 by next week.
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Yahoo
Erin strengthens to a major, powerful Category 5 hurricane
Erin intensified into the first hurricane of the 2025 Atlantic season on Friday as it continued to organize east of the Lesser Antilles. Now, Erin has reached a powerful, Category 5 status, a major hurricane, on Saturday, according to forecasters with the U.S. National Hurricane (NHC) forecasters. DON'T MISS: All interests in the Antilles, Bermuda, eastern U.S., and Atlantic Canada should continue to monitor the progress of this storm in the days ahead. Erin strengthens to Category 5 storm Reports from an NOAA Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter aircraft indicate that Erin has become a Category 5 hurricane. Maximum, sustained winds have increased to near 260 km/h. The minimum pressure has fallen to near 915 millibars. Continued and rapid strengthening is expected Saturday, followed by fluctuations in intensity through the weekend. A turn toward the north is expected to occur early next week. On the forecast track, the centre of Erin is expected to move just north of the northern Leeward Islands, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico over the weekend. The hurricane's outer bands may affect several of the islands through Saturday, prompting tropical storm watches for: St. Martin and St. Barthelemy Sint Maarten Remaining at sea, Erin's outer bands will bring heavy rainfall and flash flooding risk to Leeward Islands Saturday, and Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico Saturday night and Sunday. The latest advisory from the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) calls for rainfall totals of 50-100 mm, with isolated totals of 150 mm. Locally, considerable flash and urban flooding, along with landslides or mudslides, are possible. Potential Canadian impacts uncertain at this time Forecasters expect a ridge of high pressure over the central Atlantic to weaken in the days ahead, which will allow Erin to begin turning toward the north through the first half of next week. Interests across the U.S. East Coast and Bermuda should closely monitor the track of the storm as it curves through the region over the next five to seven days. SEE ALSO: Current signals show that steering winds may allow Erin to then turn northeast and track around that ridge in the Central Atlantic. However, a trough swinging across Eastern Canada also has the potential to absorb the hurricane and swing it back toward Atlantic Canada. The timing of this trough is highly uncertain at this time, but it highlights that folks across the region should continue closely monitoring the latest updates. The risk of dangerous surf and rip currents is growing. Rip currents a major hazard Regardless of Erin's track, rough surf and rip currents will pose a significant hazard to beaches throughout the Antilles, eastern U.S., Bermuda, and possibly Atlantic Canada as the hurricane both strengthens and grows in size over the next week. Rip currents form when waves hit the beach head-on, creating narrow currents of water that rush back out to sea. STAY SAFE: It is highly uncertain at this time if or what impacts to the U.S. East Coast could be. However, the upper levels are showing the steering mechanism turning northeastward around the high pressure currently centred to its north, and moving northward parallel to the coastline. Always heed the advice and orders of local officials and stay out of the water if there's a threat for rip currents. Don't panic if you're ever caught in a rip current. If you can't swim, calmly signal for help and tread water until assistance arrives. Swimmers should swim parallel to the beach until you're out of the rip current, then swim back to shore. Thumbnail courtesy of NOAA. WATCH: What is a rip current and what makes it so dangerous? Click here to view the video
