Crews hustle to contain brush fire on Pinckney Island Tuesday afternoon

A lightning strike ignited a bush fire on Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge Tuesday afternoon.

According to the Bluffton Township Fire District, the agency received several reports of smoke in the area. Ultimately, the Shell Point Fire burned 29 acres of the over 4,000 acre refuge, which is primarily composed of salt marsh and tidal creeks.

As of Wednesday morning, there was some light smoke still surround the refuge northwest of Hilton Head, but the fire is fully contained. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service continues to monitor the area.

“I would not characterize it as damage,” said Nathan Hawkaluk, project leader for the Savannah Coastal Refuges Complex, which includes Pinckney Island. “Fire is a natural part of the ecosystem. These habitats evolved with fire.”

When personnel with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service arrived on the scene, the fire was moving across the ground, which is typical behavior for this type of wildlife. When it hit the marsh it began to smolder out, Hawkaluk said.

After receiving the call, Bluffton fire crews were first to respond, though they were unable to transport large, heavy firefighting equipment across the soft ground. The BTFD wildland crew, along with personnel from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and South Carolina Forestry Commission, then performed a “burn-out” operation, where they set controlled fires along the island’s trail system. These fires created natural fire breaks that stopped the fire’s spread.

According to Stephen Combs, spokesperson for BTFD, the department’s wildland crew is a specially trained group of firefighters who respond to small forest fires in the areas. Occasionally, they are deployed to other locations, such as the large wildfire in Horry County earlier this year and other wildfires across the country. The USFWS has a firefighting team that is also often dispatched to larger fires across the country.

Hawkaluk said a lightning strike started one other fire started on Pinckney Island earlier this year, though due to the weather condition at the time only the single tree burned.

This story was originally published July 30, 2025 at 1:57 PM.