* Thursday, August 29, 2019  
This page will be updated regularly as information becomes available. 

Latest Update

EPA’s primary incident objective continues to be extinguishing the fire while minimizing impact to public health.  

Today, an onsite briefing was held with local elected officials.

Today’s Observations

Air Quality in the area, including at Okatie Elementary, were “Good” on the Air Quality Index. 

Onsite EPA activities continued to focus on firefighting and minimizing runoff. They have continued using a vacuum truck to capture water and send it directly to the sanitary sewer system for treatment.

Minimal smoke was noted in the morning and smoke decreased throughout the day as crews continued to segregate debris and apply water as needed.

Public drinking water in the area has not been impacted by the Able Fire. 

If your tap water comes from Beaufort-Jasper Water & Sewer Authority your drinking water has not been impacted by the incident at Able Contracting.  

Total Trucks through 8/28	625
Total Tons through 8/28	5,902
Trucks as of 3:00 PM 8/29	70
Tons as of 3:00 PM 8/29	551

Please note: The number of trucks leaving the site each day varies depending on the weather and firefighting activities. Also, the tons per truck are estimated on days when landfill receipts are not available at the time of this update.

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Smoke forecast for Friday, August 30, 2019:

A light north/northeasterly wind this evening will likely continue throughout the day on Friday, while increasing speed to become moderate by mid-morning. This should push the Able fire smoke plume generally toward the southwest for the duration of the day. Overnight minor smoke is a possibility, and increased wind speeds may allow smoke concentrations to decrease as it gets dispersed throughout the day. Smoke may become more noticeable around sunrise as winds will be weakest at that time. Smoke could be present to the southwest of the Able facility, particularly near the Sun City and Argent Lakes Subdivision around sunrise. Beyond mid-morning on Friday, dispersion and vertical mixing should disperse the smoke plume as winds will increase some during the afternoon. Please note that locations closest to the Able Contracting Recycling facility along Schinger Avenue are more likely to experience smoke at any given time.

The Able Contracting Information Hotline  has been established to provide the daily forecast and allow community members to leave messages if they have additional questions. The Smoke Forecast Hotline phone number is 803-898-4262 or 1-800‐204-1842.  

Please click here for real-time data from the air sensors.

For media inquiries: media@dhec.sc.gov.
For other inquiries: ablefire@dhec.sc.gov. 

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Stay Informed

This page will be updated regularly as information becomes available.