AdvertiseHereH

Daily Archives: 02/09/2022

SLED investigating fire at former Alice plant

By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com

EASLEY — The cause of a fire at the former Alice Mill Foster plant last month remains under investigation by state agents.

Easley Fire Chief Matthew Littleton said the call came in at 1:56 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 30.

The fire was visible from Rice Road when the first responding units arrived, Littleton said.

“It had burned through the roof of the cloth room,” he said. “They could see the fire from Rice Road.”

No one was injured in the fire, Littleton said.

Fire departments from around the area responded to assist, he said.

“Most of the fire stations in Pickens County sent personnel to help,” Littleton said. “We also had help from Greenville, Anderson and Oconee counties.

“The thing that nobody thinks about is, not only do we need to bring in help at the scene, we bring in help to backfill our respective fire stations, because the everyday calls keep coming in and those have to be answered,” he continued.

The last unit left the scene of the Foster Plant fire around 11:30 a.m. Monday, Jan. 31, Littleton said.

The cause of the fire is still undetermined, he said.

The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division is investigating, Littleton said.

“Just because we called SLED in, that doesn’t mean we suspect anything,” he said.

When dealing with smaller fires, his department handles origin investigations in-house, Littleton said.

“When it’s that big, that large of an area, we call in the experts,” Littleton said.

Opening in 1959, Alice Manufacturing’s Foster plant was in operation for nearly 50 years. The company announced the plant would close in 2008.

Now known as Alice Company, the firm recently announced the former Arial plant has been sold and will be converted to a mixed-use property.

‘Unusual event’ reported at nuclear station

No threat to public safety, according to Duke official

By Riley Morningstar and Lauren Pierce
Courtesy The Journal
news@thepccourier.com

SENECA — A Duke Energy official said a nuclear reactor at Oconee Nuclear Station was still shut down Monday afternoon, days after “an unusual event.”

Spokeswoman Mikayla Kreuzberger said in an email workers were going through plans to restart the unit after there was an “issue with pumps.” She added there was no fire after operators received fire detection indications from a different area within the unit.

Operators declared the unusual event at 3:57 a.m. Saturday. Kreuzberger said an unusual event is the lowest of four nuclear emergency classifications and “does not impact public safety.”

Oconee County Emergency Services emergency management director Scott Krein initially said Saturday crews responded to an “onsite fire brigade” around 4 a.m. The Keowee Fire Department was the first fire unit to make it to the station, Krein said Monday, and Duke Energy was still investigating the incident.

 

Federal agency comments

Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman Dave Gasperson said Monday afternoon Duke Energy notified the federal agency about the event “as required.”

“Our senior resident inspector at the plant responded immediately upon notification and observed the control room operators’ actions during the event,” he said in an email. “There was no risk to the public, and the plant’s safety systems worked as designed.”

He added the NRC would “continue to monitor Duke Energy’s analysis, their progress on troubleshooting activities and the restart of the unit.”

Duke is required to submit a Licensee Event Report (LER) to the NRC within 60 days, Gasperson said, and the report will be available to the public.

“These reports contain root causes and corrective actions undertaken by licensees,” he said.

 

rmorningstar@upstatetoday.com | (864) 973-6685

lpierce@upstatetoday.com | (864) 973-6301

Taking the next step

Under the watchful eye of Lions football coach Jeff Fruster, left, and family members, standout Daniel High School defensive lineman Jahiem Lawson signed a letter of intent on National Signing Day last week to stay home and play football at Clemson University. Lawson — whose brother, Shaq, was also a standout at Daniel before turning a Clemson scholarship into a first-round NFL draft selection — will have plenty of familiar faces on campus with him, as five of his teammates from the Lions’ two-time state champion squad also signed with the Tigers as preferred walk-ons. The six future Tigers were among 14 Daniel seniors who signed to continue their athletic careers on the collegiate level, along with six from Liberty High School and two from Easley High School. To read about all of the local athletes who signed with colleges last week, go deeper into our Website/                Bru Nimmons/Courier

 

Local men hit, killed on roads

COUNTY — The South Carolina Highway Patrol is investigating separate incidents that claimed the lives of two Pickens County residents on Monday.

Pickens County deputy coroner Heather Harrison identified the victims as 43-year-old Gregory Crocker of Church Street in Pickens and 64-year-old William Wright of Melrose Drive in Easley.

State troopers said both men were hit by vehicles and died, Wright while riding a motorized scooter and

You must be logged in to view this content.

Subscribe Today or Login

Easley discusses ARPA funding

By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com

EASLEY — Easley officials held a special called meeting last month to discuss funding the city received from the American Rescue Plan Act.

Council discussed amending the fiscal year 2021-2022 budget to allow $5 million in ARPA funding to be moved into the general fund.

City administrator Shannon Baldwin said $8.8 billion of ARPA funds were sent to South Carolina, with

You must be logged in to view this content.

Subscribe Today or Login

YAM adult music camp planned

PICKENS — The Young Appalachian Musicians (YAM) program will hold its adult weekend music camp for the second time at the Holly Springs Center in Pickens on Saturday, Feb. 26, and Sunday, Feb. 27.

Participants can also register to pick and grin at the Oolenoy Jam

You must be logged in to view this content.

Subscribe Today or Login

Federal government set to distribute free N95 masks

By Andrea Kelley
Courtesy The Journal
akelley@upstatetoday.com

WASHINGTON — The federal government launched a program in mid-January to distribute free N95 masks across the U.S. to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published a study about the effectiveness of different types of face masks in reducing the spread of the virus and found N95s were among the most effective.

The study looked at the mask habits of 1,528 people who tested positive for COVID-19 between Feb. 18-Dec. 1, 2021, and 1,511 people who did not have the virus as a control.

Masks were separated into three categories: cloth, surgical and respirator, which includes both N95 and KN95 masks.

The study found consistently wearing respirators reduced a person’s chance of getting COVID-19 by 83 percent. Surgical masks reduce the risk of infection by 66 percent, and cloth masks brought up the rear with

 

56 percent.

The government pledged to send out 400 million free N95 masks for residents, which White House spokesman Jeff Zients said was “the largest deployment of personal protective equipment in U.S. history.”

You must be logged in to view this content.

Subscribe Today or Login

DHEC pushing Test to Stay program to help keep students in class

By Andrea Kelley
Courtesy The Journal
akelley@upstatetoday.com

COLUMBIA — The “Test to Stay” program South Carolina launched in January was created to keep students in school without having to wait multiple days for COVID-19 test results.

The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) included the program in its school guidelines when students returned after winter break.

The program allows unvaccinated students who were exposed to COVID-19 but aren’t showing symptoms to use

You must be logged in to view this content.

Subscribe Today or Login

Easley departments request Rescue Plan funds

EASLEY — The Easley departments that provide public health and safety services requested city leaders use American Rescue Plan Act funding to provide them with $623,000 in requested equipment and other needs.

Easley City Council discussed those requests and ARPA funding during a special called meeting on Jan. 24.

The city’s Public Health and Safety Services, which includes fire, police and court, identified needs in the amount of

You must be logged in to view this content.

Subscribe Today or Login