Horse Island Fire

Berkeley County, South Carolina · Wildfire

Started inside the Francis Marion and Sumter National Forests boundary.

No longer active Official numbers updated Oct 2, 2026 (15 days ago)

First reported about 3 months ago

Metric	Last report	Now	Change
Size	1,011 acres Jul 25, 3:00 PM	1,012 acres Oct 18, 1:00 AM +1 acres was 1,011 acres · Jul 25, 3:00 PM	+1 acres in 3 months
Containment	90% Aug 6, 2:00 PM	100% Oct 18, 1:00 AM +10 percent was 90% · Aug 6, 2:00 PM	+10 percent in 2 months
Crew size	9 Aug 6, 2:00 PM	6 Oct 18, 1:00 AM −3 was 9 · Aug 6, 2:00 PM	−3 in 2 months
Money spent	$550,000 Jul 25, 3:00 PM	$803,284 Oct 18, 1:00 AM +$253,284 was $550,000 · Jul 25, 3:00 PM	+$253,284 in 3 months

Horse Island Fire summary

The Horse Island Fire is a wildfire near Berkeley County, South Carolina. It has burned about 1,012 acres (about 767 football fields). Crews have it fully contained, with a line all the way around it. It was first reported about 3 months ago. About 6 people are on it, run by a Type 5 IC.

Size: 1,012 acres
Containment: 100%
Discovered: July 18, 2026 (first reported about 3 months ago)
Cause: Not reported

The size and containment above are current as of Friday, October 16th at 3:00 p.m. CDT.

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Weather & fire-spread conditions

No Red Flag Warning. The National Weather Service hasn't flagged this area for dangerous fire-spread conditions right now.

Hot, dry, and windy weather can help a fire grow; cool, calm, or wet weather helps crews. The tags below rate each day for fire spread — green is calm, red can push a fire.

A general fire-weather guide (wind matters most, then how dry it is, then heat), not a prediction of what a specific fire will do.

	Day	Night
This Afternoon	86°F · Sunny Wind 7 mph SW · 0% rain Wind: Calm Heat: Warm Dry	60°F · Partly Cloudy Wind 3 to 7 mph SW · 2% rain Wind: Calm Heat: Cool Dry
Saturday	68°F · Chance Rain Showers Wind 6 to 15 mph N · 49% rain Wind: Breezy Heat: Cool Some rain	46°F · Mostly Clear Wind 9 to 15 mph N · 7% rain Wind: Breezy Heat: Cool Dry
Sunday	62°F · Sunny Wind 13 mph N · 11% rain Wind: Breezy Heat: Cool Dry	—

Forecast from the National Weather Service (weather.gov), pulled Friday, October 16th at 3:01 p.m. CDT.

Could this fire move fast?

Weather isn't the only thing that changes how a fire moves. The ground matters too: how steep it is, and what's growing on it. These four numbers are for the exact spot where this fire started, not the whole fire. A big fire crosses a lot of different ground.

1° slope

Fire usually moves faster uphill than downhill. Heat and flame lean uphill, drying out the ground above the fire before it gets there.

0% tree canopy cover

The more tree cover above a fire, the easier it is for the fire to climb from the ground into the treetops. That's called a crown fire. Crown fires move faster, throw embers farther ahead of the fire, and are harder for crews to stop head-on.

34 ft elevation

Elevation by itself doesn't make a fire more or less dangerous. But it shapes the other three numbers here: what grows there, how dry things get, and what the weather does.

Elevation and slope from the USGS 3D Elevation Program; fuel type and canopy cover from LANDFIRE (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), pulled Friday, October 2nd at 3:04 p.m. CDT.

Who's on it

About 6 people are assigned to this fire, run by a Type 5 IC. The government rates it a Type 4 Incident. About $803,284 has been spent on it so far.

The official feed reports the total headcount, not a breakdown by crew type.