CHEROKEE CREEK FIRE DEPARTMENT

Cherokee Creek Fire Department is a Combination Department that covers the North West Corner of Cherokee County South Carolina, just North of the City of Gaffney. CCFD covers about 60 square miles of primarily rural residential area, with a mix of commercial and some industrial. Highway 11, 221, 221a are the main routes of travel through the area with visitors coming to see the Cowpens National Battle Ground. Cherokee Creek FD was organized in 1978 as a all Volunteer Department and in 2000 the Department added 3 paid firefighters to work from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm Monday through Friday, to take care of station duties as well as Fire Inspections and Hydrant testing on top of answering the call volume that is now around 475 calls for service per year.

 

SQUAD 41 IS HERE AND INSERVICE

Fire scorches Cherokee Creek area
By JOE L. HUGHES II Ledger Staff Writer joe@gaffneyledger.com

A fire burned approximately 10 acres in the Cherokee Creek area of the county Wednesday. It took close to an hour for firefighters to bring the blaze under control.

For much of the recent heat wave, Cherokee County had fortunately been without any problems of the flaming variety.

That all changed Wednesday afternoon as a billowing black cloud rose above the trees in the Cherokee Creek area.

"We haven't had much rain and it doesn't take long for one of these to get started," Capt. Paul Smith of the Cherokee Creek Fire Department, said. "It is so dry, making it not a good time to do much of anything with fire - especially burn debris."

The fire, which was less than three miles from the Cherokee National Golf & Recreation Club, started after a controlled burn got out of control.

"The owner of the property received permission to burn certain things on his property," Smith said. "Unfortunately, things got out of hand."

The fire scorched between eight and 10 acres, with the wind aiding it along its dangerous path.

"He was burning stumps, tires and other things but when the wind came along he could not keep things together and that is when he called us," Smith said.

Close to 40 firefighters from the Cherokee Creek and Grassy Pond fire departments responded and had the fire under control in less than an hour.

No one was injured, but Smith said things could have been much worse.

"The fire was quickly maintained, helping us keep the flames from spreading further," Smith said. "I'm just happy that we got here fast enough to keep things from becoming real bad."

With temperatures being close to 100 degrees and little to no rain in the forecast, Smith said there are very few reasons for anyone to do any type of burning - controlled or otherwise.

"People have to be cognizant of the conditions," Smith said. "We haven't had rain in a few weeks and it does not take long for the grass to dry up and cause incidents like this."