Raging wildfires charred North Carolina in 2016. Dry conditions could lead to a repeat
It’s the brink of fall in Western North Carolina — temperatures are dropping, the leaves are changing and mountain towns are preparing for an influx of tourism.
But it’s also approaching wildfire season, and there’s no rain in sight.
Park officials and forest rangers are worried the abnormally dry weather conditions could put western North Carolina, where much of the state’s forests are concentrated, in a dangerous spot, media outlets report.
“As we get those dry, windy days like we typically get in the fall, and as the leaves come down, conditions will get worse if we don’t get rainfall,” Trent Duncan, the District 1 forester for the North Carolina Forest Service, said, according to WLOS.
Fire experts say the current dry conditions mimic what preceded the historic wildfires that charred the state in 2016, WSOCTV reported.
Wildfires burned more than 62,000 acres in the mountains alone that year, according to a report released by the forest service.
“From the end of October through November, Wildland firefighters from nearly every state in our nation converged on North Carolina to help battle 26 major wildfires,” Assistant Commissioner Scott Bissette said in a letter released with the report.
Much of North Carolina was under “extreme or exceptional drought” at that time, the Charlotte Observer reported.
As of Thursday, almost all of western North Carolina was “abnormally dry” or experiencing “moderate drought.” Under such conditions — classified as D1 or D2 — the danger for wildfires is higher than normal and they become difficult to extinguish, according to the U.S. drought monitor.
Duncan said many of the fire weather indices indicate “it’s trending much like the fall of 2016,” according to WLOS.
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park has already issued a ban on backcountry campfires, citing “abnormally dry weather conditions” in a news release Thursday.
“The park is experiencing abnormally dry and moderate drought conditions throughout the park,” Superintendent Cassius Cash said in the release. “With little rain and hot, dry conditions predicted over the next week, it is imperative that we reduce the risk of human-caused wildfires.”
The ban is only in effect for the park’s 100 backcountry locations — not for its nine frontcountry campgrounds or picnic areas, according to the release.
Rangers have asked residents to clean gutters and remove wood piles from their basement walls to keep embers out, Spectrum News reported.
“What mostly starts house fire(s) is those embers spreading from the forest fires,” district fire management officer Greg Phillip said, according to the media outlet.
This story was originally published September 26, 2019 at 4:20 PM with the headline "Raging wildfires charred North Carolina in 2016. Dry conditions could lead to a repeat."
