Rain helps relieve Pinnacle Mountain fire

The Pinnacle Mountain fire in Pickens County, South Carolina and Transylvania County, North Carolina received more than an inch of rain overnight, providing much-needed relief for the drought -stricken area, for firefighters and for the blaze itself. Crews are not being dispatched to the lines this morning out of concern for safety; wet roads, slick terrain and soaked ground will not allow for line improvement or back burning. At least another half-inch is expected through mid-day. If the rain abates when expected and conditions allow this afternoon, small teams may be sent to scout the perimeter and make fire line assessments later in the day. Another inch of rain is forecast tonight, and all air operations have been suspended for the day. The heavy cloud cover and precipitation also ruled out an overnight infrared flight, which officials believe would reveal a successful burn-out of a large interior portion of the fire Monday afternoon.  Nearly 40 North Carolina firefighters and support personnel are providing assistance on the northern perimeter of the fire, which crossed the state line Sunday.  Incident command officials reported the Pinnacle Mountain fire is the third-highest ranked incident in the Southern Area Coordination Center’s priority list. The incident was ranked as high as second a week ago when the fire broke the northern perimeter of the original containment