Macon County Sheriff's Office features story of 1960 moonshine bust
Right now. A battery loaded trailer is on fire. Sky Four over the scene. I'm Taniqua Penix here in Spartanburg. I'm going to give you what we know so far about the cause of this fire. Skies are clearing up a little bit over the weekend. After this week of rain, here's a map showing how far temperatures have risen over the past decade. The center of the train derailment is Star Iba. Very low, under 10 degrees. I'm Ray Llerena here with Anderson County. I'm going to give you the latest on the derailment after several cars rolled over near Belton. Now, let's start with breaking news tonight. Out of Spartanburg County. A battery loaded tractor trailer is on fire and firefighters are investigating. This is what happened this afternoon along Broadcast Drive in Spartanburg. We have Taniqua Penix here on scene. She's here with the latest from Taniqua live. Now, good evening. Nigel. Carol, the site at the GFL JB Transfer Station is now safe, but the deputy fire chief says the fire was quickly contained. But things were tense early this afternoon. Firefighters were called to a truck on fire Friday afternoon. It was probably carrying chemicals and batteries to the GFL landfill. They found some batteries. Uh, the type of batteries involved is still unknown. They're obviously hauling trash and dealing with unknowns. Uh, at this facility. I mean, there's a whole bunch of stuff that anyone could throw away. Deputy Chief Nicholas Ray says crews got the fire under control and the sanitation company was able to empty the trailer and no one was injured. People throw things out that they shouldn't. And when those things get compressed or overheated, they can sometimes cause spontaneous combustion. But in this case, they were very lucky. Today, the North Spartanburg Fire Department just received a new electric vehicle, fire blankets and electric vehicle nozzles. But the deputy says today's fire was put out the old-fashioned way. This is not an electric vehicle, so that equipment would not have been useful here. We used old-fashioned firefighting methods with hoses and water and a lot of manpower on a very hot day. This fire is still under investigation. Live from Spartanburg, Tanikua Penix WYFF News for Tanikua. Thank you. And breaking news from Greenville County tonight, one person has died in a crash. According to the coroner's office, the crash happened this afternoon on Reedy Fork Road near Old Hundred Road in Pelzer. One person died at the scene. No other details have been released. More breaking news. Sky 4 flew over a crash involving a Highway Patrol vehicle. This is the scene near White Horse Road at Farmans Golf Course. According to the officer, the Greenville County Sheriff's Office is currently investigating this crash. The officer involved was taken to the hospital and is expected to be OK. Police have yet to say what led to the crash. Now, on to the weather forecast. Today we have the Super Doppler 4 crash live. We have live footage from Lawrence to Greenville. Our chief meteorologist, Chris Justice, with you now. Chris, will it be sunny over the weekend? It will be sunny. The storms will continue for about another six hours in the area. The storms have been continuing in the area and have been for most of this week. I've had a few days where the storms have passed around my yard. I could see them. I could hear them, but they never actually came to my yard. I'm sure many of you are feeling that today. Look at the heavy rains that are falling from town to town in Anderson Greenwood. Some of these rains are bringing very heavy rains in a short period of time to Star Princeton, Iowa. Then we're heading into Western North Carolina, which is mainly dry here. From here on out, it's going to be a dry weekend. Right now it's 86 degrees in Greenville and Spartanburg and 80 degrees in Asheville. With humidity, it will feel like 90+ degrees. We have a great weekend coming up. Here is the weather forecast for the next 12 hours. We can't rule out rain or storms, but overall, we are starting to dry out after a very wet week. In fact, Asheville got over 9 inches of rain, and Greenville got 2-3 inches by downtown and GSP. Now, I will map out the weather for the weekend hour by hour and let you know when the rain will return to the area. Thank you, Chris. South Carolina has had at least 40 train derailments in the last three years, including one that happened yesterday in Anderson County. The accident happened on the Belton-Honea Pass Highway, but how often do these types of accidents happen and where are they happening? I'm joined by Ray Lerena who will be reporting from Anderson County to tell you all about this. The overturned cars were righted early this morning, and workers could be seen throughout the day working to repair and replace the track where the derailed cars were located. SKY4 continues to work on repairing the five rail cars that derailed Thursday morning after the derailment in Anderson County. Railroad officials said three of the cars were loaded with ethanol, two of which overturned, and the other two were loaded with wood pulp. Unloading of the products loaded on the cars will begin today, but there are no concerns about spills or leaks. “The accident is still under investigation and we are working with both the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and the Scottish Railroad Service (SCORS) to determine the cause and to complete all required reporting requirements, as well as oversee repairs to the track,” Greenville & Western CEO Stephen Hawkins said in a statement. Greenville & Western has not had a derailment in the past three years, according to Federal Railroad Administration data. Officials say trains in the county run slow. Data shows trains run at speeds below 20 miles per hour, usually around 5 miles per hour. Anderson County has not had a derailment since 2021. There have been two in 2021 and five in the north in 2022. Greenville and Spartanburg counties don't have as many major events throughout the year that disrupt the community, because most derailments happen in rail yards. But officials say they're preparing for what could happen. They can go on the actual rail cars and learn about the different attachments to unload this product, or any kind of potential failure point. They may be doing that. So, from where you're standing right now, what kind of track repairs have workers done so far? Well, Carol, I just saw workers earlier using heavy equipment to lift, repair and dig up rails on the other side of this track, right behind me. And the cause of this derailment is still under investigation. This is Ray Lerena Wife News Four, broadcasting from Anderson County. Thank you. Ray. An upstate pharmacist has been convicted of illegally compounding radioactive drugs, according to the Department of Justice. Authorities say Richard Sherriff, 73, of Easley, pleaded guilty to adulterating drugs. Authorities say Sherriff operated a pharmacy that provided nuclear and radioactive medicines to health care facilities in the Greenville area. Sherriff is believed to have broken down the active ingredients in the medicines. Sherriff was placed on probation for two years. A 9-year-old boy who went missing in Durham, North Carolina has now been found safe and a person is in custody. An Amber Alert was issued for the boy last night, police said. He was last seen with 43-year-old Mariah King. Police say the boy has been found and is safe. King has been taken into custody. Tonight, the biggest names in country music will be gathering in Anderson for the Rock Country Music Festival. The festival will be held at the Sports and Entertainment Center. Sky 4 footage from earlier this week shows crews preparing the venue. Officials say 30,000 people are expected to visit the county for the festival, but people are already parking their RVs days before the music starts. County officials say the festival is expected to have an economic impact of about $27 million. Welcome to Fluor Field, which is sold out and ready to show off the magic of the Banana Ball. Firefighters and partygoers are getting ready to hit the road.
Macon County Sheriff's Office features story of 1960 moonshine bust
Updated: July 26, 2024, 6:35 PM EDT
The Macon County Sheriff's Office has released a historic story about a raid on moonshiners from over 60 years ago. (Video above: WYFF News 4 Evening Headlines) The story was published by the Franklin Press on January 14, 1960. The 64-year-old newspaper article featured former Sheriff Harry Thomas, who served in Macon County, North Carolina from 1950 to 1962. Sheriff Thomas and his two deputies made front page news for raiding and destroying two illegal moonshiners on January 7. The story states, “Sheriff J. Harris Thomas and his deputies destroyed two illegal stills in the Slickrock Branch area on the south side of Middle Creek between Highland and Dillard.” “The largest was a steam boiler installation, which the sheriff estimated ran two or three distillations. The other still, a traditional copper pot type, was located about three-quarters of a mile from the steam installation. It “probably had been in operation for about two years,” the article continues. According to a Franklin Press article, police used dynamite to blow up the still, after which officers poured out about 1,800 gallons of mash and seized 17 cases of empty half-gallon bottles. According to a How Stuff Works article, mash is a mixture of cornmeal and other ingredients used in the fermentation process of moonshine. Macon County Sheriff's Office officers say they haven't been involved in any moonshine/distillery busts in recent years. “We wanted to share this retrospective footage because it gives a unique perspective on how law enforcement has evolved over 60 years compared to the challenges they face today,” said Caitlin Cochran of the Macon County Sheriff's Office. “We plan to share more historical law enforcement content because we enjoy local history and we think our community will, too.”
The Macon County Sheriff's Office has released a historical account of a raid on moonshiners from more than 60 years ago.
(Video above: WYFF News 4 Evening Headlines)
This article was published by Franklin Press on January 14, 1960.
The 64-year-old newspaper article featured former Sheriff Harry Thomas, who served as sheriff of Macon County, North Carolina from 1950 to 1962. Sheriff Thomas and two of his deputies made front-page news on January 7 after they raided and destroyed two illegal moonshine breweries.
The article stated, “Sheriff J. Harris Thomas and his men destroyed two illegal distilleries in the Slickrock Branch area on the south side of Middle Creek between Highlands and Dillard.”
“The largest was a steam boiler plant which the sheriff estimated had been in operation two or three times. The other still, a traditional copper pot type, was located about three-quarters of a mile from the steam plant and had probably been in operation for two years,” the article continues.
According to a story in the Franklin Press, police used dynamite to blow up the still, then poured out about 1,800 gallons of wort and seized 17 cases of empty half-gallon bottles.
According to an article by How Stuff Works, mash is a mixture of cornmeal and other ingredients that are mixed together during the fermentation process of moonshine.
The moonshine and distillery raids are not something the Macon County sheriff's office has handled in recent years, deputies said.
“We wanted to share this retrospective because it provides a unique perspective of how policing has evolved over 60 years compared to the challenges it faces today,” said Caitlin Cochran with the Macon County Sheriff's Office. “We plan to share more historical police content because we enjoy local history and think our community does too.”
