Heavy rains over the weekend helped U.S. Forest Service firefighter crews in their battle against the blazes, which are often taking place in steep mountainous terrain, Jamie Keller, a Forest Service spokesman, wrote in a Tuesday press release.
Here’s the status of the fires that continue to burn. All of them are located in the Pisgah National Forest:
Black Bear Fire
This blaze is 90% contained, according to the press release. The fire has stayed at that status for more than a week.
Over the weekend, 1.7 inches of rain fell on the Appalachian Ranger District in Haywood County, where the fire has burned more than 2,000 acres.
An area where the fire jumped a control line, called a “slop over,” is part of the uncontained area.
In a Facebook post, Forest Service officials said the 120-acre area between Painter Branch and Snowbird Creek contains many dead trees and features steep terrain that lends itself to upward spread of the fire. To keep the fire from spreading further, crews have cleared a fireline around the tool by hand and also built contingency lines in case the fire jumps that.
The Appalachian Trail between Interstate 40 and Brown Gap Road remains closed due to the fire, as does National Forest System Road 148A.
A Nov. 16 tractor trailer crash on Interstate 40 sparked the Black Bear Fire, which quickly spread across steep slopes near the site and has been burning since.
Locust Cove #2 Fire
This fire is 95% contained, boosted by three inches of rain over the weekend, according to the Forest Service. That’s up from 60% contained Friday afternoon, although the fire has held steady at 180 acres burned.
The fire is burning in the Sunnyvale area of McDowell County. That’s in the Forest Service’s Grandfather Ranger District.
It started Nov. 29 in the area where a different fire burned in March 2023, the Forest Service said.
Clear Creek Fire
This fire, which was burning about two mile from the Locust Cove blaze, is fully contained, according to the Forest Service.
It burned 124 acres after starting Nov. 30 on private land northwest of Marion.
What does wildfire containment mean?
Wildfire crews declare a fire contained when they’ve cleared a line around it that they can expect to stop the fire from spreading further, according to the National Wildfire Coordinating Group.
“Fire managers do not declare a section contained until they can leave the area unguarded and reasonably expect the fire not to spread,” the Forest Service wrote in a post on its North Carolina Forests page.
How is drought contributing to the fires?
Western North Carolina is seeing its worst drought since 2017, according to the Forest Service.
A weather station in Grandfather, North Carolina, about 19 miles west of Morganton, has seen very dry conditions since Sept. 1.
The 8.48 inches of rain that have fallen there between Sept. 1 and Tuesday are the fifth-lowest since the station was set up in 2002, according to data collected by the N.C. State Climate Office. The average precipitation there between Sept. 1 and Dec. 12 is 13.32 inches.
Forest Service officials previously told The News & Observer that drought conditions mean dead leaves that fall to the forest floor aren’t soaked. When a fire does catch in those conditions, it can burn quickly instead of smoldering in wet debris.
Tuesday, the Forest Service warned that ongoing drought conditions could mean that fires pick back up soon, despite the weekend’s rainfall.
“Heavy fuels, such as downed trees, continue to hold heat, and with dry, sunny weather returning, fires could reignite,” said the Forest Service release.
This story was produced with financial support from the Hartfield Foundation and 1Earth Fund, in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners, as part of an independent journalism fellowship program. The N&O maintains full editorial control of the work.
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