Pinnacle Mountain fire UPDATE

 

Here’s an update from the South Carolina Forestry Commission on the continuing Pinnacle Mountain fire near Table Rock State Park in Pickens County, as provided to 101.7/WGOG NEWS by Doug Wood, director of communications:  “Early this morning, the estimated size of the fire was 15-20 acres, but I was told at noon the fire had grown to at least 50 acres. A Forestry Commission airplane is in the area of the fire now and continues to provide size-up estimates.  A 20-person hand crew of SCFC wildland firefighters and Pickens/Greenville-area fire service personnel is on the mountain now, working to dig hand lines around the perimeter. An additional crew of about 20 SCFC firefighters arrived on scene just a bit ago, and they will be there to assist if the fire continues to grow or dispatched to other fires that may occur in the area.  An incident commander, operations section chief, plans section chief, GIS specialist, and logistics section chief, division supervisors, and other support personnel from the SCFC are on scene at our incident command post at the Holly Springs Church at the intersection of Highways 178 and 288, just south of Hwy 11. The South Carolina National Guard has provided a Black Hawk helicopter to do water dumps on the fire, dipping from the upper and lower lakes at Table Rock State Park.  The landing zone for SCNG aircraft will be at the Wesleyan Camp off of W. Gate Road. Current weather predictions call for relative humidity levels to be 26% this afternoon, with winds from the North at 3 mph (gusting to 17) this morning, then winds will transition to come from the Southwest at 3 mph. While wind will not be a significant factor this afternoon, the low relative humidity combined with the very dry fuels and upslope winds may increase fire intensity today. Predicted weather for Friday, Nov. 11 calls for relative humidity to be 18% in the afternoon, with winds from the northwest at 4 mph. With the long-term drought, leaves falling from hardwood trees, and low relative humidity, any new fires in the mountains will have the potential to become large very quickly. Relative humidity levels below 25% increase the difficulty of containment because any ember landing outside of firebreaks can ignite fuels. This also makes it much more hazardous to firefighters on the ground, since spot fires can occur in unburned fuel well away from the flaming front.”