A great forest fire in the mountains of South Carolina has doubled its size in each of the last three days. But fire teams have been able to keep the fire away from the structures.
Firefighters fighting the Mountain Fire Rock table have concentrated in saving lives and properties digging fire jumps that push the fire north through lands not developed on the ridges of the Pickens County near the North Carolina state line, the authorities said on Friday. No injuries have been reported.
Airplanes and helicopters have completed more than 550 water missions at the Rock Fire table and a second fire in Persimmon Ridge about 8 miles away.
But for now it is mainly defense in the Blue Ridge mountains until the climate cooperates with a shock of soaking or winds decreasing, said South Carolina’s rangers, Scott Phillips, at a press conference on Friday in Table Rock State Park.
“With these fires and the conditions we face in the state at this time, the dryness of fuel, extremely low moisture, the strong winds we have, containment is very, very difficult to achieve,” Phillips said.
The rock fires and the Crest of Persimmon have burned approximately 17 square miles. The Fire Rock Table began a week ago and has been doubled in size since Tuesday, since the wind and dry conditions have extended through the mountains.
In North Carolina, at least eight fires burned in the mountains. The biggest, the Fire Black Cove and the Fire Deep Woods in Polk County, were increasingly content. They have burned about 10 square miles combined, but they have barely grown at the end of this week.
And although those fires have received more attention, the forest fire season has already been occupied thanks to a drought and Huracán Helene six months ago demolishing millions of trees. Fallen trees act as fuel and block firefighters trying to reach the flames.
“It will be a continuous problem over the next few years. It will change the way we have to attack the fires in the mountains of South Carolina,” Phillips said.
Firefighters who help the State Forest Commission have fought 373 forest fires in South Carolina that have burned more than 28 square miles just in March.
“That is orders of magnitude more than we normally do within a month, even more than in some years in terms of the amount of burned acres,” Phillips said.
April is typically the worst month for forest fires and long -term forecasts do not show that conditions change much.
“This will be a long season for us,” Phillips said.
The prohibition of an outdoor burning has been in force for more than a week in South Carolina. The officials have not given any indication of when they will lift it.
Governor Henry McMaster reminded people of violating the prohibition of burns can mean the time of the jail, and starting a fire even for negligence could leave someone in the hook for everything he damaged.
“You go out and start a fire and burn your neighbor’s house, you owe them a house,” McMaster said.
Time forecasts for the weekend have encouraging news. The calm winds are predicted during the night, and the rain must fall on Sunday and Monday, although the National Meteorological Service does not predict the type of soaking that firefighters want.
“We are going to get it out,” McMaster said about fires. “We hope we are going to rain, we have help. Everyone puts it in their prayers.”
