Smoke Blankets Southeast as Winds Fuel More Than 30 Wildfires

Ada Carr and Ryan Phillips
Published: November 11,2016
With little to no rain in recent weeks and prolonged drought conditions affecting much of the Southeast, a spate of wildfires has broken out across much of the region, sending up a blanket of smoke that covers several states and metro areas, including Atlanta.
With wind gusts of up to 30 mph impacting several of the affected states, firefighters have a new challenge in their battle against the blazes, said weather.com meteorologist Chris Dolce.
On Thursday, NASA imagery picked up more than 30 wildfires that have ignited since the Maple Springs fire in North Carolina started on Nov. 4. The fire has since grown to 3,919 acres.
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More than 5,000 firefighters and support staff from around the nation have poured into the Southeast to help fight the fires, according to Shardul Raval, U.S. Forest Service Director of Fire and Aviation Management for the Southern Region. About 40 aircraft, including three large air tankers flying out of Chattanooga, have been brought in.
Dolce said the wildfires burning in the southern Appalachians are in an area where drought conditions have worsened significantly during the last few months, and there will be little reprieve from the drought in the near future.

North Carolina

Hundreds of acres have burned in Western North Carolina after multiple wildfires broke out in recent days, prompting the evacuation of dozens of residents in affected areas, according to the Citizen-Times.

Smoke rising from several wildfires in the Southeast, taken from space on Monday, Nov. 7,2016.
(NASA)

Carrie Harmon, public information officer with the Fire Information Team at the Party Rock fire, told weather.com in an interview that the fire has burned 977 acres due to increased fuel conditions, high wind gusts and relatively low humidity.
Harmon said the fire is 15 percent contained as of Friday afternoon.
For the Party Rock Fire, Harmon said more than 160 people are fighting the blaze, with the majority of the personnel coming from the North Carolina Forest Service.
Harmon then said a burn ban is in effect for this area and 25 counties in the western part of North Carolina. The counties with the ban are Alexander, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Catawba, Cherokee, Clay, Cleveland, Gaston, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Lincoln, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Swain, Transylvania, Watauga and Yancey.
The issuance of any new permits has also been suspended until the ban is lifted.
"Due to weather conditions and extreme drought, a fire could ignite very easily and so take as much precaution as possible," Harmon said.
The Party Rock fire caused at least 18 homes to be evacuated, while another 50 homes in the area were warned of the growing blaze.
There is a mandatory evacuation in place for the following places in regards to the Party Rock Fire: 

• Chimney Rock Village from the intersection of Boys Camp Road and Highway 74 to the Hickory Nut Falls Campground Bridge intersection with Highway 74.
• Residents and business owners located on Boys Camp Road, from the Highway 74 intersection to the end of Boys Camp Road.
• Residents and business owners located on South Side Drive from the Flowering Bridge west to the Hickory Nut Falls Campground Bridge intersection with Highway 74.
• Residents from Hickory Nut Falls Campground Bridge intersection with Highway 74 to the county line.

Crews are also fighting a 30-acre fire on Rumbling Bald Mountain, which has shut down the Rumbling Bald Climbing Access Area of Chimney Rock State Park.
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Limited evacuations were ordered for the Quail Ridge and Huntington Road areas of the Rumbling Bald Resort, according to a statement from Lake Lure's local government. Emergency personnel is going door to door to evacuate residents.
Officials expected up to 35 homes to be affected, reports the Asheville Citizen-Times. A state of emergency was declared late Monday.
On Wednesday, the Lake Lure Fire Department had a structure protection plan in place that includes devoting at least 20 engines to protect structures, reports the Citizen-Times.
The Boteler fire near Hayesville in Clay County has reportedly consumed more than 3,500 acres and is only about 10 percent contained as of Thursday.
Located northwest of Franklin, the Tellico fire has consumed more than 5,160 acres as of Thursday and is only 10 percent contained. The blaze has prompted a state of emergency in Swain and Macon counties, reports the Citizen-Times.
The blaze is in the Nantahala National Forest and has prompted the closure of the forest west of Asheville and parts of the Appalachian Trail from Rock Gap to the Nantahala River.
Nearly 350 firefighters were fighting the blazes as of late Sunday.
Many of the fires have been caused by the use of heavy equipment in the woods, one fire official told the newspaper.
"Anything that can generate some heat or a spark, be real careful with it," he said.
The North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Human Services said since Nov. 6,  there had been 2,829 wildfires affecting more than 18,158 acres on state-protected lands across North Carolina this year. That total does not include fires on federal land.

Kentucky

After dozens of fires broke out this week, the state's Department for Public Health issued a smoke inhalation advisory for the southeastern part of the state due to poor air quality and Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin declared a state of emergency, according to Fox News.
According to WKYT, the largest of these fires are burning in Harlan, Letcher and Pike counties. In Harlan County, the worst fires are on Little Shepard's Tail, where crews had to shut down the road because is was becoming too dangerous, reports LEX 18.
"Trees are falling. Snags are everywhere on top of the line there and falling across the road and stuff. We're having to go every day and cut snags out and move snags and blow lines out," said  Forestry manager Tim Brown.
Another fire that began Friday in Breathitt County has burned some 3,500 acres and remains uncontained.

Friday morning new restrictions on smoking, campfires and other potential fire hazards went into effect along the Kentucky-Tennessee border, the Associated Press reports. Fireworks will be prohibited and stoves, lanterns and heating devices will be limited. Campfires are only permitted in designated campgrounds and picnic areas where metal fire rings and grills are provided.
Smoking is permitted only in vehicles, buildings or developed recreations sites, or areas cleared at least three feet away from flammable materials.

Tennessee

Dozens of wildfires in Eastern Tennessee have left a blanket of smoke across much of the area.
“We are smoked out here in Cleveland,” Terry McDonald, public affairs officer at the Cherokee National Forest, told the Knoxville News Sentinel.

Grace Mynatt looks off towards Lookout Mountain as smoke from wildfires fills the Tennessee Valley, near Chattanooga, Tennessee, as seen from Signal Mountain on Monday, Nov. 7, 2016.
(Dan Henry/The Chattanooga Times Free Press via AP)

Seven firefighters were trapped Tuesday evening in a forest fire west of Kingsport. All seven firefighters were later accounted for and none was injured, Gary Murrell, director of the Hawkins County Emergency Management Agency told Fox News.
Nathan Waters, assistant forester of the East Tennessee District, said the wildfires keep cropping up, making conditions difficult for weary firefighters.
“We have been battling fires since well before Halloween,” Waters said.  “When you have forest fires it takes a long time to get them out. It wears out the equipment and wears out the people. We are very fortunate compared to the Cumberland District; they have had larger issues.”
One of the largest wildfires is burning on Signal Mountain, along the Tennessee-Georgia border.
Other counties experiencing wildfires include Fentress, Cumberland, Overton, Rhea, Marion, Van Buren, Hamilton and Sequatchie. A fire in the Brimstone Recreation Area was clouding skies near and in the Big South Fork, the newspaper reports.
According to Waters, one firefighter was hospitalized with carbon monoxide poisoning after working alongside other firefighters to battle a blaze in White County near Sparta.

Georgia

Hundreds of fires have broken out in Georgia in the past few weeks as drought conditions continue, especially in northern counties.
Dozens of residents in the state's northeast mountains have been told to evacuate their homes. Friday the Rabun County Sheriff's Office said about 25 to 40 homes in the Persimmon community were affected and a shelter was being set up at a local church.
In Rabun County, authorities are seeking a suspected arsonist that may have purposely started at least five small fires.
Wendy Burnett, director of public relations for Georgia Forrest Commission,  told weather.com that a major fire in Fannin County yesterday morning was reported to have burned a little over 10,000 acres.
As of early Friday morning, Burnett said the commission had received 127 wildfire calls throughout the state.
"Most of these we are able to get out and get them extinguished, but the problem we are having is that leaves are beginning to fall and leaves are falling on containment lines," Burnett said.
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As the wind continues to blow in the areas of the largest fires, it is causing problems and forcing emergency crews to stay on site longer than normal.
Burnett then said the longstanding drought has created an extremely dry fuel level, which is allowing the fire to burn deep into the ground and continue to smolder,
According to the Clayton Tribune, the Rabun County Sheriff’s Office is on the lookout for a white male driving a dark blue SUV that was seen in the areas of the Rabun fires.
Two different fires along Tallulah River Road in Rabun County are burning on opposite sides of the road. One is named Rock Mountain, according to the Tribune. The other is Flat Branch. As of late night Wednesday, each fire was estimated at 100 acres.

Smoke over Duluth is from wildfires burning in Gilmer County on Wednesday, Nov. 9,2016.
(Duluth Police Department)

Firefighters have been battling the Rough Ridge Fire burning in the Cohutta Wilderness area of the Chattahoochee National Forest since Oct. 16 when lightning sparked the blaze.
"The fire continued its upslope run out of the Rough Creek drainage and crossed East Cowpen Trail and is backing downslope towards the west," states Inciweb. "Smoldering and creeping occurred in area with high shade. Leaf fall is continuing, so reburn potential remains high and expected to continue for the next two weeks."
According to WXIA-TV, wind and continued dry conditions have served as fuel for the wildfire that has exploded to more than 10,300 acres as of Thursday and is only 20 percent contained.
Officials continue to monitor another fire at Lookout Mountain near the Tennessee border that has grown to 175 acres and continues to grow. Although no homes have been evacuated, fire officials are keeping residents abreast of the situation in case evacuations are needed, reports the TV station.
Burnett said the state's resources have been able to handle the growing number of fires, but in the event state resources are spread too thin, there are existing partnerships with other states to bring in additional personnel and resources.
"It seems obvious, but just be very careful," Burnett said. "Pulling a hot car over on patch of dry grass could easily start the next fire."