One large wildfire in the Upstate nearly doubled in size for the third day in a row, while another only grew modestly on Thursday.
The Table Rock Fire in Pickens County expanded to an estimated 8,679 acres on Thursday, up from 4,556 acres on Wednesday, 2,293 acres on Tuesday, and 1,156 acres on Monday, according to the S.C. Forestry Commission. The Persimmon Ridge Fire in Greenville County grew modestly to 1,992 acres from 1,553 acres.
The Table Rock Fire began on March 21 and the Persimmon Ridge Fire started a day later — both allegedly caused by humans.
No injuries have been reported since the fires began.
There were no new calls for evacuations on Thursday, but existing evacuations remain in place for the same areas east of the Table Rock fire that were announced Wednesday. Those mandatory evacuations included residents of Oil Camp Creek Road east to River Falls Road south to Highway 11 west to West Gate Rd.
S.C. State Fire had 31 brush trucks, 29 engines, 10 UTVs, 11 tankers, and 236 firefighters on the scene Thursday. This brings State Fire’s overall contributions to fighting both fires to 546 firefighters, 30 support staff, 87 engines, 99 brush trucks, 18 battalion chiefs, 12 tankers, and 15 UTVs.
The forestry commission noted that aviation support was particularly strong on Thursday, with one very large air tanker and four other air vehicles dropping retardant on the northern edge of the Table Rock Fire. Also, SLED and S.C. National Guard helicopters dropped water on both fires on Thursday, as did the forestry commission’s contracted single-engine air tankers.
A statewide burn ban that was issued on Friday is still in effect.
Extremely low humidity, combined with gusty winds, has helped the fires grow considerably this week. Meanwhile, dry, downed trees from Hurricane Helene last year have provided the fires with a reliable source of fuel.
Weather conditions were much milder on Thursday, which allowed crews to strengthen firebreaks on key expanses of both fires, the forestry commission states. However, weather conditions on Friday may trigger more fire growth, as relative humidity is expected to drop to 23% and wind gusts could reach nearly 30 mph.
According to the National Weather Service on Thursday evening, there is a 60% chance of showers on Sunday and an 80% chance of showers on Monday in the area.
The Table Rock Fire grew almost exclusively on its northern and western sides.
“The fire burned up to the North Carolina state line in several different places,” the forestry commission states.
The containment lines on the eastern side and southern side of the fire held up, though, and were fortified by burnouts in and around Table Rock State Park.
“The eastern containment is particularly good news because so many homes lie beyond the existing firebreaks,” the forestry commission states. “Crews will continue strengthening these lines in the coming days.”
While the Persimmon Ridge fire grew some on Thursday, most of the additional acreage was from burnouts that crews managed to conduct between existing firebreaks and the active fire. Firefighters plan to complete burnouts of existing unburned areas and focus on improving existing firebreaks on Friday.
Greenville County and Pickens County Emergency Management wanted to remind residents that just because the conditions looked somewhat better on Thursday, they’re still encouraging evacuations in the designated zones until those are deemed safe for re-entry.
In Pickens County, Sassafras Mountain Overlook has been closed, and the road leading up to it, F Van Clayton Memorial Highway, is also closed.
The Table Rock Public Information Line – (864) 467-3428 – remains for wildfire evacuees, if needed. The line will be monitored from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. If you have an emergency, call 911. Greenville County Emergency Management and Pickens County, SC, are providing more information on Facebook and Instagram.