N.C. now under burn ban
Open burning is banned in North Carolina until further notice as a wildfire rages at Pilot Mountain State Park near Winston-Salem.
The N.C. Forest Service issued the burn ban Monday, Nov. 29, a day after N.C. State Parks and Recreation announced that Pilot Mountain was closed due to a wildfire that at that time had consumed 180 acres, resulting from an escaped campfire in an undesignated area. As of Dec. 4, the fire was contained at 1,050 acres, the N.C. Forest Service said. An additional wildfire in McDowell County covered 436 acres by the time it was contained Dec. 4.
Dry conditions now prevail statewide, with 86 out of 100 counties reporting abnormally dry or drought conditions according to the N.C. Drought Monitor map released Dec. 2. The map listed Haywood, Macon, Swain, Jackson, Cherokee, Clay, Graham and Transylvania counties among the 17 counties rated abnormally dry, and 22 counties in further east areas of the state are suffering extreme drought. An additional 47 counties are in moderate drought.
“It is fall wildfire season in North Carolina, and we are seeing wildfire activity increase due to dry conditions,” said Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler. “With these ongoing conditions, a statewide burn ban is necessary to reduce the risk of fires starting and spreading quickly. Our top priority is always to protect lives, property and forestland across the state.”
Despite the burn ban in North Carolina, the U.S. Forest Service conducted a prescribed burn in Tennessee last week near the Graham County line, with Western North Carolina residents seeing smoke as a result.
In North Carolina, the statewide ban prohibits all open burning in the affected counties, regardless of whether a permit was previously issued. No new permits will be issued until the ban is lifted. Anyone violating the burn ban faces a $100 fine plus $183 court costs. Any person responsible for setting a fire may be liable for any expenses related to extinguishing the fire.
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Unless a separate ban is issued by a local government agency, the N.C. Forest Service ban does not apply to fires within 100 feet of an occupied dwelling. If a fire within a 100-foot area of a dwelling escapes containment, a North Carolina forest ranger may take reasonable steps to extinguish or control it. The person responsible for setting the fire may be liable for any expenses related to extinguishing the fire.
The N.C. Forest Service will continue to monitor conditions. Residents with questions regarding a specific county can contact their N.C. Forest Service county ranger or their county fire marshal’s office. Call 911 to report wildfires.
