In December, parts of McDowell County burned in large fires late in the season due to rapid drying following Hurricane Helene — a harbinger of what could be difficult fire seasons in the years to come.
“They had just seen flooding across the landscape, and then, because it dried out so quickly, they started seeing wildfire concerns,” said Corey Davis, North Carolina’s assistant state climatologist.
Last week, the larger North Fork fire blazed onward through the county just after firefighters contained the Crooked Creek fire.
“This is going to be a problem — not just next year — but this could be a problem 10, 15 years down the road,” Davis said.
As our climate warms, North Carolina is experiencing more “weather whiplash,” according to Davis. A severe drought in early June ended when Tropical Storm Debby and Potential Tropical Cyclone 8 hit the state in late summer. The weather is oscillating rapidly between extremes, and this has created trouble for N.C. agriculture, most notably last year’s corn crop.
This can also create the perfect conditions for wildfires when flooding and high winds fell trees that rapidly dry during the next drought. Human activity starts most wildfires in North Carolina, but storms can increase the fuel available to those fires.
“It’s a mess,” said Zachary O’Donnell, coordinator for the Southern Blue Ridge Prescribed Burn Association.
The North Carolina Forest Service conducts burns on both private and public lands. Landowners can also work with volunteer organizations called prescribed burn associations to manage their land with fire.
North Carolina’s first burn association formed in the Sandhills region in 2015. PBAs educate landowners on using fire as a land management tool and organize prescribed burns with volunteers. These burns serve both a social and environmental function for the community.
Aerial timber surveys indicate that Helene damaged over 800,000 acres of North Carolina’s forested land. Since more than 80% of North Carolina’s forests are privately owned, prescribed burn associations help put fire back on the landscape before catastrophic wildfires strike.
But Helene has made that mission more challenging. Some landowners have had to rescind plans to burn this season.
“Their forests are so heavily damaged, it would make a prescribed burn either not feasible or too dangerous,” O’Donnell said.
North Carolina fire seasons have changed for the foreseeable future
Although 2024 was North Carolina’s second warmest year since 1895, it was an average year for N.C. wildfires. Spring rains kept wildfire conditions lower during fire season.
“Fire’s become a 12-month-a-year ordeal [in N.C.],” said Philip Jackson, public information officer for the N.C. Forest Service, on Charlotte Talks.
Increased development in the state is a major driver of this change. More people in North Carolina live in areas bordered by forests or unoccupied land than any other state.
“You have more people, you have more people recreating, you’re going to have more human-caused wildfires,” Jackson said.
Jackson said wildfires occur every day in North Carolina. Last year, the state experienced over 4,000 wildfires, but most of these fires only burn a couple acres.
A fall drought could put western North Carolina at extreme wildfire risk. If forests go longer than a month without at least a quarter inch of rain, branches, logs and other woody debris dry out. Assistant State Climatologist Corey Davis said Hurricane Ivan had a similar effect in Alabama and Mississippi in 2005. State forest services then had to adapt their management practices to account for the extra fuel on the ground. Part of the solution may include controlled burning.
The way western North Carolina burns, whether it’s prescribed or wild, has changed for the foreseeable future. Helene has opened up the canopy of many forests, allowing sunlight to reach the ground. The annual grasses that pop up as a result can provide kindling for an unexpected blaze.
The challenge for burners like O’Donnell will also evolve — right now, many down trees are holding moisture, and that makes managing a consistent blaze difficult. But, as those dead trees dry out, it’s more likely that they’ll catch fire — something O’Donnell wants to avoid. If a whole tree catches, it might burn too intensely, scorching the soil and harming the microorganisms that keep forests healthy.
“It makes me nervous to burn some of these properties,” O’Donnell said.
A landscape that evolved alongside fire
A prescribed or controlled burn, when done properly, returns nutrients to the soil and improves wildlife habitat, depending on the landowner’s goal. Trees that have evolved alongside fire, like some oaks, can benefit from intermittent fire.
Some fire-activated seeds will lie dormant until heat or certain nutrients wake them up. If a landscape historically experienced regular burns, prescribed burns can clear out invasive species that have taken hold. Humans have artificially expanded these plants’ ranges — through development, trade or other activities— and now, they outcompete species endemic to the area. But if an invasive species doesn’t tolerate fire well, prescribed burning is a quick way to pluck that weed.
“It’s almost like mowing the forest,” O’Donnell said. “You’re really not touching the roots of things. You’re not getting into that duff layer where a lot of those microorganisms live.”
How can landowners manage storm debris
O’Donnell said the PBA already led two burns this season. Helene has increased wildfire risk in western North Carolina, but the tropical storm has also drummed up more interest in prescribed fire, according to O’Donnell.
Which is good, because the clock may be ticking on some lands. As spring approaches, logs and snags that previously held moisture will dry out.
“If we do have an escape, it could be much more catastrophic this year and next year,” O’Donnell said.
It’s rare that prescribed fire escapes, burning outside the unit. A survey of U.S. Forest Service burns found that less than 1% of prescribed fires escape.
However, some properties may benefit from waiting to burn.
“Luckily, there’s a bit of a grace period,” O’Donnell said. “If people wait a couple years to do a burn on a land that’s heavily storm damaged, I think that’s fine to let things decay, let things drop to the ground.”
In the meantime, there are some other things landowners can do:
- Cut up fallen trees to spread out potential wildfire fuel. Landowners can also chip trees and branches to form mulch.
- Hire a salvage logger to clear risky trees.
- Creating buffers between property and forested areas.
You can learn more about wildfire preparedness at Resist Wildfire NC or ReadyNC.
