Firefighters back on Rocky Spur

Published 11:06 am Friday, August 15, 2008

A crew of 14 firefighters was back on a remote ridge of Rocky Spur Friday, fighting a fire burning down the extremely steep, southern slope of the mountain. The fire began last Tuesday and was burning across as much as 25 acres at one point. Firefighting crews access the command site on a newly bulldozed road running about a quarter mile through thick woods off Hogback Mountain Road. The location is about a mile past the mountain top lake communities on Hogback, past the two gates which closed the access to Cliffs of Glassy some years ago. Greenville Watershed firefighters on the scene last week said the fire was not yet on Greenville Watershed property, but was within the Landrum &dquo;Blue Wall&dquo; watershed. Crews were called off the mountain Thursday after 1.5 inches of rain fell. But Scott Hawkins, public relations officer for the S.C. Forestry Commission, said firefighters had expected to be back. &dquo;The rain contained the fire,&dquo; Hawkins said. &dquo;It was not controlled yet. We only pulled the crews because the rain made the mountain dangerous, not because the fire was out.&dquo;

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