Saluda County Emergency Management Division

04/01/2026

🚨Something BIG Just Rolled Into Saluda County🚨

And it’s all about helping our community stay prepared.

We’re excited to introduce our brand new All-Hazards Simulation Trailer, made possible through a Hazard Mitigation Grant.
This trailer brings real-world scenarios to life in a safe, controlled setting, giving you a chance to feel and learn what to do before an emergency ever happens.

Inside, you can experience:
🌪️ Severe weather simulations
🌎 Earthquake simulations
🔥 Kitchen and grill fires
⚡️ Lockout/Tagout safety training

🧯We also received a FIAR Fire Extinguisher training system, which gives you a hands-on way to learn how to properly use a fire extinguisher without the mess or risk of a real fire.

With realistic sound, lighting, and movement, this isn’t just something to see… it’s something to experience.

Also, we’d like to give a HUGE thank you to JHB Group Inc for building this incredible training tool and helping us bring this resource to Saluda County!

👀 We’ll be bringing the trailer out into the community soon, so keep an eye out!

03/27/2026

SC Forestry Commission to issue statewide burning ban, effective at 4 p.m. today

COLUMBIA—The South Carolina Forestry Commission is issuing a State Forester’s Burning Ban for all counties, effective at 4 p.m. today.

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.

The ban does not apply to fires used for the preparation of food or fires used in appropriate enclosures (portable outdoor fireplaces, chimineas or permanent fire pits constructed of stone, masonry, metal or other noncombustible material that conforms with all applicable South Carolina fire codes).

Forestry Commission officials say weather conditions over the next several days present a greatly elevated potential for fires igniting easily and spreading rapidly. Dangerously low relative humidities – reaching below 20% in some areas – combined with extremely dry fuels statewide and gusty winds will create a particularly volatile mix of wildfire risk factors throughout the weekend.

"In addition to the intensifying drought conditions, the weather we’re going to see statewide over the next several days makes it ripe for any fire that starts to burn intensely and move fast,” SCFC Fire Chief Darryl Jones said. "While these conditions can make wildfires ignite easily anywhere and make it more challenging for firefighters to contain, we’re really concerned about areas where events like Hurricane Helene and recent ice damage have led to higher amounts of fuel. This burning ban is necessary to limit ignitions to the maximum extent possible to prevent severe wildfires for public safety purposes."

The ban will stay in effect until further notice, which will come in the form of an official announcement from the Forestry Commission.

Shareable link:https://www.scfc.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Advisory-StateForestersBurningBan-20260327.pdf

03/24/2026

SC Forestry Commission issuing statewide Red Flag Fire Alert, effective immediately

COLUMBIA—The South Carolina Forestry Commission is issuing a statewide Red Flag Fire Alert, effective immediately until further notice.

The alert is being issued to strongly discourage people from burning outdoors when weather conditions present an elevated risk of wildfire. In addition to drought intensifying from a lack of significant rainfall, forecasts are calling for higher winds, low humidities and no precipitation in the foreseeable future.

A Red Flag Fire Alert does not prohibit outdoor burning, provided that all other state and local regulations are followed, but the Forestry Commission uses the alert to strongly encourage citizens to voluntarily postpone any such burning until the alert is lifted. Because current weather conditions are very conducive to fires escaping easily and spreading rapidly, anyone considering outdoor burning should take extra precautions if they still choose to burn under a Red Flag.

“The combination of dangerous conditions and dry fuels we’re going to see statewide for the next several days all add up to an elevated wildfire risk, and any fire that ignites is likely to burn intensely and spread rapidly,” said SCFC Fire Chief Darryl Jones. “With this alert, we’re asking people to respect the weather and hold off from burning outdoors until the weather improves. If you have burned recently, we encourage you to monitor the burn area to make sure the dry conditions don’t cause it to rekindle.”

Adding to the danger, particularly in the western part of the state, are the heavy fuel loads that remain in our forests from Hurricane Helene. Not only can these downed, drying trees and other fuels act as kindling, increasing the risk of wildfire ignition and spread, but they also are likely to impede firefighters’ access, adversely impacting response capability.

Although a Red Flag Fire Alert does not ban outdoor burning, it does trigger certain county or local ordinances that restrict outdoor fires, so residents should contact their local fire departments to check whether such restrictions apply in their areas. The alert will remain in effect until lifted by the Commission, whose fire managers will continuously monitor the situation.

Shareable link:https://www.scfc.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Advisory-RedFlagFireAlert-260324.pdf

03/16/2026

Update regarding Code Red Weather Alerts: Code Red has informed us that our automated alerts are now working correctly. Thank you for your patience and again, thank you to the citizens who reached out to let us know that they did not receive alerts on Thursday.

Please note that the severe thunderstorm warning sent out earlier had to be sent manually as they were still reconfiguring the automated alerts.

Also, we are aware that the robot voice mispronounced the county name. And yes, we are aware that it was REALLY weird. And we've asked them to fix it.

If you aren't currently signed up for Code Red, you can do so by visiting https://accountportal.onsolve.net/saludacountysc/contact and creating an account. We also encourage those who already have an account to go in and verify your information and make sure you are signed up for the alerts you wish to receive.

03/16/2026

03/16/2026

‼️ UPGRADED TO WARNING UNTIL 9:45am ‼️

03/16/2026

Stay Weather Aware! Severe weather is expected across South Carolina today.
Main threats:
• Widespread damaging winds with the line of storms, with some destructive wind gusts
• Several tornadoes expected, including some strong tornadoes in the eastern half of the state
• Large hail up to 1 inch

Timing:
• Upstate: Now until 10am
• Midlands: 9am to 4pm
• Coastal Plain: 11am to 6pm

Be prepared:
Have multiple ways to receive warning information and know where you will go if a warning is issued. Remember that the safest place is a sturdy building, in a small interior room on the lowest floor, and away from windows. More tips at https://www.scemd.org/

03/15/2026

We are monitoring the potential for severe weather tomorrow.

⏰ The main window for severe weather moving through our area will be midday Monday.
💨 While we are still uncertain about exact impacts, strong winds are expected, and we cannot rule out tornados.

🚨 As always, we encourage everyone to stay weather-aware as this system develops.
If severe weather begins, follow these tips to keep yourself and our first responders safe:
- Please stay off the roads 🚗
- If you must be on the road, SLOW DOWN⚠️
- Only call 911 for true emergencies ☎️
- Turn Around, Don’t Drown (don’t drive through flooded roads) 🌊
Stay safe, Saluda! 💜⛈️

03/15/2026

03/15/2026

03/14/2026

Important information regarding weather alerts:

Earlier this afternoon, we were made aware that our mass notification system failed to send weather alerts during the severe weather event on Thursday.

We are currently in communication with the vendor for this system, and they are working to resolve the issue, which is on their end and resulted from the transition to a new system implemented by the vendor. We are being told that, when the new system was implemented, our weather alerts were never transitioned along with our account.

We have pressed the vendor to resolve this before Monday, as we anticipate the potential for additional severe weather. However, we have a backup plan to manually send the alerts if necessary.

While we are working diligently to resolve this issue, this is a great time to remind everyone to remain vigilant whenever severe weather approaches our area and to have multiple ways to receive weather alerts. In addition to CodeRed, we always recommend having a NOAA weather alert radio. There are also a number of weather apps for cellular devices that will provide alerts in addition to CodeRed.

We appreciate the citizen who reached out to make us aware of the issue, and we appreciate the community's understanding as we work with the vendor to resolve it as quickly as possible.

03/13/2026