Despite recent rainfall, wildfire risk remains high in Western North Carolina, especially after an unusually dry October. According to the weekly U.S. Drought Monitor released on Nov. 14, Western North Carolina is abnormally dry, indicating a higher-than-normal risk of wildfires.
“The rain’s beneficial. We need it, we want it, we’re grateful for it,” said Philip Jackson, public information officer for the North Carolina Forest Service. “But at this point, it only temporarily knocks the dust down and kind of helps us keep a lid on things.”
In November 2023 the NC Forest Service responded to more than 1,200 wildfires, with about 2,000 total during the peak wildfire season from October to December, including two large blazes in October 2023: the Collett Ridge wildfire in the Nantahala National Forest which burned over 5,000 acres and the 430-acre Poplar Drive fire in Henderson County.
[Subscribe for FREE to Carolina Public Press’ alerts and weekend roundup newsletters]
This fall, however, land managers are facing a new challenge: accessing wildfires in order to protect homes and remote communities is complicated by damage from Tropical Storm Helene which includes washed-out bridges, impassable roads and thousands of acres of fallen trees.
“We have all of the ripe ingredients that you need for a wildfire to happen: low humidity and fresh dry fuel,” Jackson said. “We’re really just an ignition source away from a wildfire.”
Intense fire, remote homes
Fighting wildfires in remote areas is complicated by steep terrain making it difficult to reach and contain fires quickly and safely.
“Western North Carolina typically presents some challenges all in itself, just because you’re dealing with the topography of the mountains,” Jackson said. “The storm debris also makes using resources such as bulldozers even more challenging. And now you have to factor in that some roads are limited or non-existent.”
The NC Forest Service is responsible for protecting state and privately owned forest land from wildfires. According to a forest damage appraisal report, the NC Forest Service estimated 822,000 acres of timberland received some level of damage.
Throughout the mountains, the state agency and other land managers face a crucial challenge: protecting the growing number of people living in areas where forest and development meet in order to minimize the risk of damage to homes, property, and the environment.
“The population is growing to the point where people are beginning to inhabit areas that were previously undeveloped wild forest land,” Jackson said. Communities where the built environment intermingles with nature is known as the wildland-urban interface, or WUI.
North Carolina has more WUI acres than any other U.S. state, presenting complex challenges for fire management and public safety. In Mitchell County, Yancey County and Avery County, for example, 96% of housing is in the WUI.
Homes on forested slopes and ridges, said Asheville-based EcoForesters co-director Andy Tait, are especially vulnerable to wildfires since fire burns upslope. Additionally, southfacing forests and ridges are often drier since they are more exposed to wind, sun, and have relatively shallow soil with lower levels of moisture.
In addition to seasonal leaf fall, trees leveled by the storm add potential for more intense wildfires since larger branches and trunks burn longer and hotter.
“While the risk of a wildfire happening is no greater due to Helene, (the storm) greatly increased fuel loads,” Tait said. “Downed trees could certainly burn hotter and be much harder to put out. Conditions are ripe for a big fire to occur and with emergency services having been stressed for so long that’s the last thing we need now.”
Approximately 80% of wildfires are human-caused. Among the ignition sources are fireworks, unattended campfires and discarded cigarettes.
However, what worries wildfire responders most are escaped residential brushfires, burning leaves and brush piles.
“In a lot of cases the only way for folks to get rid of storm debris is to burn,” Jackson said. “You’re stuck between a rock and a hard place. We’re trying to message the importance of using caution, but at the same time, we understand folks need to be able to burn that debris.”
Usually, a permit is required. However, the NC Forest Service waived the permit requirement for open burning in 21 Western North Carolina counties. The lifting of the ban is authorized by the Disaster Recovery Act of 2024 passed by the NC General Assembly.
“We’ve really been hammering away to use caution,” Jackson said.
The NC Forest Service recommends never leaving a fire unattended; keep a water source, shovel, rake and a phone nearby; and to avoid burning when conditions are dry and windy.
Pisgah National Forest wildfires
Grandfather District Ranger Nick Larson told CPP that the US Forest Service is also prepared for an abnormal fire season. The ranger district includes forest land east of Asheville to Blowing Rock, bordered by the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Currently, about 200 additional US Forest Service personnel are supporting the storm’s recovery within the Pisgah National Forest as well as fulfilling requests from county governments to aid in opening access to homes and communities.
Access to the Pisgah National Forest is limited by extensive forest damage, landslides and washouts. According to the US Forest Service, Helene damaged 187,000 acres in the Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests and 900 miles of road. The damage was most extensive in the Grandfather and Appalachian Ranger Districts in Yancey, Mitchell, McDowell and Avery counties.
On Nov. 15, the Pisgah National Forest reopened select roads within the Grandfather Ranger District, although extensive recovery efforts continue across the region.
The Grandfather Ranger District has 200 miles of roads, of which about 40 miles are now open.
“There is still a phenomenal amount of road and trail hazards,” he said. “My No. 1 concern right now is access to potential fires.”
The extent of the damage will also create a long-term impact by increasing fire fuels.
“Our fuel structure is going to be changed over the next two to five years,” he said. “Trees like the size of my leg and bigger are going to be the challenge. Our staff is starting to pull together strategies of what we need to do to reduce that risk.”
When fighting a wildfire, Larson said the Forest Service’s primary focus is protecting communities and homes.
He said the US Forest Service has reintroduced prescribed fires over the last several years on a large scale in the Grandfather Ranger District. The Grandfather Restoration Project increased controlled burns on over 40,000 acres of forest land during the last decade.
“Our prescribed fire program has been incredibly helpful in reducing fire risk to those communities,” he said.
On Nov. 19, the Forest Service announced that the public can gather woody debris and downed trees without permits on predetermined free-use areas on open roads within the Pisgah National Forest to help mitigate the risk of wildfire. Permits are still required to collect firewood in the Nantahala National Forest.
Future tactics
The NC Forest Service is “prepared to apply different tactics and strategies this fall” to address wildland forest fires this season, Jackson said.
However, the state agency is facing a substantial number of firefighter vacancies, due in-part to frequent turnover. More than 100 vacancies exist statewide, Jackson said, about a third of them in the western region of the state. Among the reasons for the high rates of turnover according to former employees are low pay and long hours, he said.
“Our initial attack personnel, our first-responders, our boots on the ground is where our greatest need is,” he said. During last year’s fire season the state agency relied on personnel from other states.
Larson of the US Forest Service said they are fully staffed. The majority of the 200 additional US Forest Service personnel from other states assigned to Western North Carolina’s storm recovery are skilled firefighters.
To address the risk of future wildfire, the NC Forest Service is helping private forest landowners recover from Helene. In North Carolina, more than 80% of the state’s forest land is privately owned.
The wildfire risk, he said, is expected to be elevated during traditional fall wildfire seasons due to debris left behind by Tropical Storm Helene.
Many private landowners are now grappling with how to manage the debris and restore forest. In the months ahead, the NC Forest Service plans to shift its focus to the recovery phase, providing cost-share assistance and guidance to help landowners rebuild lost woodlands and manage their forests effectively.
The N.C. Forest Service is responsible for assisting forest landowners by providing forestry services and advice.
“The rain is a nice relief, but we’re heading into December and January, and the wildfire risk isn’t going anywhere,” Jackson said.
“(The debris) is going to continue to dry out over time, so these same wildfire concerns that we have this year; they’re going to be there next year and the year after that.”
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. You may republish our stories for free, online or in print. Simply copy and paste the article contents from the box below. Note, some images and interactive features may not be included here.
