WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA, N.C. (WLOS) — The U.S. Drought Monitor released its most updated drought map for North Carolina on Thursday, Oct. 26, and things have worsened or stayed the same for most of Western North Carolina in the past month.
Severe drought conditions persist in parts of the Western North Carolina mountains as the end of October draws near, increasing the risk for wildfires.
“Transylvania County, Henderson County, Polk County -- they have been listed as being in severe drought. Rutherford County as well," Dossett said. "Pretty much all Western North Carolina is at least abnormally dry.”
Parts of those four counties are all considered to be in severe drought, namely areas that directly border or are very close to the boarder with South Carolina. The remaining majority of WNC is in a moderate drought, with only a few counties (Mitchell, part of Buncombe, part of Haywood, Madison and Yancey) being considered as of Thursday to just be "abnormally dry."
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With such dry conditions, forest service officials say people should not burn anything outside until there is substantial rain. They’re emphasizing precautions to take.
It's dry outside, and this time of year, there is plenty of natural "fuel" on the ground to ignite wildfires. All it takes is a source.
Lightning sparked a fire on Oct. 23 in the Cheoah Ranger District of the Nantahala National Forest in the far western part of North Carolina. The Collett Ridge Fire is 52 acres, and, given the rugged terrain, it's taking crews on the ground, an air tanker, two helicopters and the combined efforts of the U.S. and state forest services to fight it.
"Sometimes, when there are big, dead trees on a ridge line and we get long periods of dry weather like this, those dead trees can really become a new source of ignition when we get lightning like we did last week,” North Carolina Forest Service Ranger Bo Dossett said on Thursday, Oct. 26.
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With some parts of Western North Carolina only getting 3/4 of an inch of rain in the entirety of last month, that's a definite cause for concern, and that lack of rain, of course, presents challenges.
“Stream flows are down, water tables in the forest are lower. It makes fires harder to control," he said.
Even more reason for people, many of them visitors and tourists to the area, to be extra careful outside with things like campfires, Dossett said.
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"Make sure they've cleared around it and make sure that they've got someone with it the whole time, and that when they're putting it out, they're using water and they're fully extinguishing that fire,” Dossett said.
Since most wildfires originate from burning debris around the yard, the same precautionary principles apply, he added.
He said discarded cigarette butts, kids playing with matches -- and even parking cars on top of dry grass -- can also start wildfires in conditions like these.
“We just encourage folks at this time to take extra precautions even more so than they normally would around things like that," he said, "especially if they're out camping in the national forest or even in their backyard.”
Dossett urges people to call the Forest Service or 911 if they see anything or have concerns.
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October 27, 2023 at 05:01AM
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Wildfire risk: US Drought Monitor lists portion of WNC in 'severe drought;' remainder in moderate drought - WLOS
"severe" - Google News
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