Wildfires keep burning across the South: When will they stop?
- Hundreds of wildfires are burning across the Southern U.S., fueled by strong winds, low humidity, and dry vegetation.
- The worst fires are in the Carolinas, where thousands of acres have burned and dozens of structures have been destroyed.
- Debris left from Helene, which was a hurricane when it made landfall, is making the fires worse.
Hundreds of spring wildfires are burning across the Southern U.S., fueled by an unusual combination of strong winds, low humidity and ‒ in some parts of the Carolinas ‒ debris left from the destruction of Helene, which was a hurricane when it made landfall in Florida.
Thousands of acres have burned, and hundreds of firefighters from across the country are battling the wildfires around the clock. Evacuations have been ordered. Some homes have been destroyed.
The largest fire in the region is the Table Rock Fire in Pickens County, South Carolina. It crossed the state line into Transylvania County in North Carolina on Thursday, March 27.
Weather conditions Friday are prime for fire growth and additional fires. Burn bans are in effect across all of North Carolina and South Carolina. Air quality is poor in many North Carolina counties.
Fire experts say that while wildfires this time of the year in the Southeast are common, but the scope and level of risk this year is unusual.
The fires will likely continue until the return of rain and higher humidity, which could arrive in the next few days.
Wildfire updates:
- Live updates: Table Rock wildfires continue to grow, Persimmon Ridge modest expansion
- 'Unprecedented' wildfires in NC: 250 residents evacuate as Helene debris fuels flames
- Western NC wildfire updates: See updates from around the region
What's causing the fires?
Strong winds and low humidity are causing several wildfires to spread through western North Carolina, risking more damage to some areas still recovering from Helene, AccuWeather reported. Indeed, some of the fuel for fires in the Carolinas was provided by trees downed by Helene about six months ago.
"There is never a singular fire cause," Robert Scheller, a North Carolina State University forestry and environmental resources professor told Paste BN via e-mail Thursday. "For a fire to become large enough to be a substantial threat, it requires the right combination of fuels (dried vegetation and dead leaves, needles, twigs, at the ground level), weather (dry and windy), and ignition."
He added that in the Southeast, nearly all fires are human ignited, typically by accident: a backyard fire unattended, burning debris, an open-air BBQ, etc.
Did Helene have an impact?
According to Scheller, "Hurricane Helene has massively increased the amount of fuel across the southern Appalachians with over 820,000 acres of forest damage (dead trees, downed limbs, etc.)"
For example, with one of the current wildfires in North Carolina, “a lot of the damage and the blowdown, the downed trees from Hurricane Helene are contributing to the difficulties that our firefighters are facing trying to contain this fire and so that has just been kind of one ongoing crisis from September all through into the spring for a lot of these residents,” North Carolina Forest Service spokesperson Bo Dossett told the Associated Press.
The National Interagency Fire Center sent out a fuels and fire behavior advisory this week for the entire Southern Appalachian region. The advisory noted that recent "extraordinarily low humidity" has rapidly dried leaf litter and fine fuels left in the wake of Helene, accelerating the forest fires that can change course quickly depending on weather.
“In my career, 20-year career, this is the most fuel I’ve seen on the ground,” North Carolina Forest Service spokesperson Jeremy Waldrop told WLOS, describing the large number of leaves and trees that fell during the storm.
When will the fires stop?
"The fires will stop when the fuels become too wet to burn," Scheller said. "This happens when we get regular rains and/or high humidity."
Unfortunately, there is no significant rain in the forecast for the Carolinas until Sunday into Monday, when thunderstorms will impact eastern states, AccuWeather said.
Beyond that, the forecast from the Climate Prediction Center shows warmer but also wetter than average conditions across the region next week.
Contributing: Will Hofmann and Todd Runkle, Asheville Citizen Times