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The Table Rock Complex – twin blazes in the mountainous Upstate region of South Carolina – expanded exponentially on Tuesday (March 25, 2025), prompting forestry officials to order mandatory evacuations for broad swaths of Greenville and Pickens counties.
The mandatory evacuation orders came less than 24 hours after these same officials indicated no such emergency actions were “imminent.”
“Extreme fire behavior on both incidents today prompted immediate mandatory evacuations in Greenville and Pickens counties and led to significant expansion of both fires’ perimeters,” a statement from the S.C. Forestry Commission noted.
Per the commission, here is a map of the evacuation area…
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Those in the impacted areas who require shelter are being directed to the Marietta First Baptist Church (2963 Geer Highway) in Marietta, S.C.
Forestry officials and a host of federal, state and local firefighters, law enforcement officers and emergency responders have been battling the Table Rock Fire and the Persimmon Ridge Fire since last weekend. Because the two fires are less than eight miles apart, they are being treated as one incident (the “Table Rock Complex”) from a command perspective.
The Table Rock Fire – currently the larger of the two blazes – began last Friday (March 21, 2025). It was allegedly sparked by the “deliberate negligence” of several teenage hikers, according to the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO). Charges are reportedly imminent for the four individuals identified by PCSO as being responsible for igniting that blaze.
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As of this publication, the Table Rock Fire is estimated to have consumed 2,293 acres. It remains 0% contained.
On Tuesday, the Table Rock fire “essentially burned westward along the forested watershed and eventually back east, halfway around (Table Rock) lake’s northern perimeter.”
A pair of S.C. National Guard (SCNG) UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters “dropped water on the fire throughout the day,” with their efforts supplemented later Tuesday by a pair of SCNG CH-47 Chinooks and a helicopter dispatched by the S.C. State Law Enforcement Division (SLED).
Local property owners fretted that these and other mitigation efforts weren’t nearly enough to impact the spread of the fire.
“They are so under-equipped up there,” a property owner whose home is located between the two fires told FITSNews. “These fires will only end when they burn themselves out and there is so much fuel on the ground.”
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As for the Persimmon Ridge Fire – sparked last Saturday (March 22, 2025) by an escaped campfire – it has now consumed an estimated 996 acres and is also 0% contained. According to forestry officials, the blaze “expanded its eastern, western and southern of its perimeters (on Tuesday), tripling in size.”
A pair of large air tankers (LATs) began making multiple fire retardant drops on the conflagration Tuesday, per officials.
“The first several drops were made along the northern perimeter, along Oil Camp Creek Road, and the western perimeter,” the latest release noted. “Drops continued throughout the afternoon along the other edges of the fire in an intensive effort to contain the fire in a ‘box’ ringed with retardant.”
Incident managers have continually found themselves working against the elements, though. According to fire officials, “wind gusts dramatically increased fire activity later in the afternoon, resulting in greater, visible fire intensity and much more smoke.”
There’s also a ton of fuel feeding both fires owing to the impact of last September’s Hurricane Helene.
“The abundance of downed timber from Hurricane Helene remains dry from the lack of significant rain, contributing greatly to the extreme fire behavior,” officials noted.
Our Andy Fancher has been boots on the ground in the Upstate for the past three days and has witnessed the growth of the fires as it was happening. Fancher was also among the very first to report on the evacuation orders…
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?? The Persimmon Ridge Fire — part of the growing Table Rock Complex wildfire — is gaining strength FAST, prompting massive evacuations across two counties. #SCWX #SCFC pic.twitter.com/WVVzS4687S
— Andrew Fancher (@RealAndyFancher) March 26, 2025
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Additionally, Fancher was among the very first to report on the fires blazing through firebreaks – or areas of cleared, plowed land intended to check the spread of the conflagrations.
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? Air and ground crews are swarming in response to the growing Persimmon Ridge Fire — one of two apocalyptic blazes burning through the Table Rock Complex, where multiple agencies continue battling the flames. pic.twitter.com/87Cj9KiMcE
— Andrew Fancher (@RealAndyFancher) March 25, 2025
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According to the latest statement from forestry officials, they have summoned “a complex incident management team (CIMT) to join firefighters and other cooperator personnel in the ongoing effort to suppress the Table Rock Fire and Persimmon Ridge Fire.”
That team is expected to arrive in the area later today, “shadow with current (incident management) personnel Thursday and integrate to form a larger command team by Friday.”
S.C. State Fire has ordered twenty engines and ten brush trucks for “structure protection” in the area due to “new fire growth/threat and evacuations,” officials noted. Those resources will supplement the six engines, three battalion chiefs and four brush trucks currently dispatched to the fire sites.
In yet another sign of the escalating concern associated with the twin blazes , forestry officials announced they had “ordered eight 20-person hand crews to assist with constructing firelines well outside of originally planned firebreaks.”
As we have from the beginning of this story, count on FITSNews to keep our audience apprised of the latest developments related to both fires… and count on our Andy Fancher to continue delivering the very latest updates via social.
This is a developing story… please check back for updates.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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4 comments
Is that wacko going to write an opinion piece blaming DEI initiatives for this fire and the current inability of our brave firefighters to stop its spread?
It has been reported that they are going to charge the teenage hikers for the Table Rock fire, but what of the campfire that started Persimmon Ridge? We have been under Red Flag warnings for several weeks. No one should have been burning, campfire or not. Are they also going to be charged?
They need, within reason, to let them burn themselves out. All of the debris from Helene and earlier storms needs to go and letting “mother nature” “do her thing” will prevent future out of control fires a la the LA fires. I’ve toted a Pulaski while in the Army (1988 Yellowstone fires and the 1989 Hells Canyon fires) and in South Georgia as a kid – you can manage the forest or you can fight the fires it’s one or the other.
No media seems to be reporting exactly what the ” “deliberate negligence” of several teenage hikers” was. Why not?