Forestry Commission officials estimate the Table Rock Fire

TABLE ROCK FIRE UPDATE – PICKENS COUNTY SC – 13:30:00 –MARCH 23, 2025 Forestry Commission officials estimate the Table Rock Fire, which ignited Friday, has grown to more than 300 acres and continues to expand. The steep terrain is limiting access to the area by heavier equipment typically used to establish containment lines around the original fire. Spot fires continue to spark new ignitions outside of the original fire area.
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Exacerbating the situation is an abundance of downed timber from Hurricane Helene, which has increased the fuel load on the mountain. Voluntary evacuations of approximately 100 residences remain in effect just east of Table Rock State Park; no further evacuations are necessary at this time, although residents in the surrounding areas are advised to monitor local news and social media if conditions warrant. Firefighters are planning a large-scale burnout operation of 100-150 acres on the Table Rock Fire today. This backfiring operation, undertaken to eliminate the fuel between the evacuated residential areas and the active wildfire, will encompass the eastern side of Table Rock. The planned burnout of several thousand acres will put a great deal of additional smoke in the air in northern Pickens County. Motorists traveling in the area are urged to use caution and avoid SC Hwy 11, and people with respiratory conditions are encouraged to stay indoors. Multiple local fire departments will be performing structure protection as wildland firefighters work to improve firebreaks and cut down snags (dead trees) in advance of the burnout, which will make use of firebreaks established during the Pinnacle Mountain Fire in this same area in 2016. The aircraft that were being used to drop water on the Table Rock Fire have been diverted temporarily to another new wildfire, named the Persimmon Ridge Fire, of approximately 50 acres that ignited in the Mountain Bridge Wilderness Area between Caesars Head State Park and Jones Gap State Park Saturday. The water-dropping operations will resume on the Table Rock Fire after the burnout has been completed. Nearly 100 personnel from the South Carolina Forestry Commission, SC State Fire, The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Greenville Water, the USDA Forest Service, SC Department of Natural Resources (DNR), SC Law Enforcement Division (SLED), Pickens County EMD and local fire departments continue working to contain the fire. REMINDER: A statewide burning ban issued Friday at 6 p.m. remains in effect until further notice. A State Forester's Burning Ban prohibits all outdoor burning, including yard debris burning, prescribed burning, campfires, bonfires and other recreational fires in all unincorporated areas of the state.

FIRE BACKGROUND: Human-caused / March 21, 2025 / Table Rock State Park, 13 miles north of Pickens, S.C. FIRE SIZE: 300+ acres, as of March 23, 2025 CONTAINMENT: 0% EVACUATIONS: ~100 voluntary evacuations on east side of Table Rock State Park ESTIMATED COSTS TO DATE: N/A FIRE CREWS/RESOURCES: More than 100 personnel from SCFC, SC State Fire, TNC, Greenville Water, the USDA Forest Service, DNR, SLED, Pickens County EMD and local FDs INJURIES: No injuries have been reported. STRUCTURES: No structures are imminently threatened at this time.
 
CLOSURES: Table Rock State Park and all of its trails are closed until further notice, as are all trails at Caesars Head and Jones Gap State Parks. UPDATES: Updates will be provided only as new information becomes available.

Source @The South Carolina Forestry commission

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