Category Archives: Forest Fires

MOOREFIELD, West Virginia — Forest fires in West Virginia’s Potomac Highlands Region last week scorched 5,750 acres according to West Virginia Division of Forestry Director Jeremy Jones. …The first fires were reported Wednesday as conditions became dry with low humidity. Strong winds picked up to 50 miles and hour and more which fueled the fires faster than fire fighters could keep up. A number of homes and buildings wound up being destroyed. …The West Virginia State Fire Marshal continued to evaluate the damages to structures from the forest fires. Ultimately rainfall Friday night into Saturday helped the crews get full containment, but Jones said the work of a pair of Blackhawk helicopters from the West Virginia National Guard were very extremely valuable and gave fire crews a strong leg up on the out of control blazes.

LURAY, Va. — Crews were battling scores of wildfires around Virginia on Thursday, including a fire affecting hundreds of acres at Shenandoah National Park, amid an elevated fire risk. More than 100 new fires popped up Wednesday amid gusty winds and low relative humidity, affecting more than 2 1/2 square miles across the state, many of them in the central part of the state, Virginia Department of Forestry spokesperson Cory Swift said. Shenandoah County officials announced Thursday that five homes were lost due to a fire northwest of Strasburg… Residents of homes that were not affected who evacuated may return, officials said in a news release. That fire and another large fire near Basye have been contained, and there are no known fatalities, officials said. At least 16 fires were contained and hundreds of firefighters worked overnight to contain the others, Swift said. Amid high winds, officials were seeing some downed powerlines causing fires, he said.

CHARLESTON, West Virginia — Grant, Hampshire, Hardy and Pendleton counties have been placed under a State of Emergency due to “extensive forest fires,” Gov. Jim Justice announced Thursday afternoon. Multiple large fires are burning across those counties, including one at Waites Run near Wardensville that has destroyed “countless” structures, according to fire departments. The Fire Information for Rescue Management System map says that the Waites Run fire has burned more than 3,500 acres, which is nearly 5.5 square miles. Departments from multiple states, including Virginia and Maryland, and from West Virginia counties as far away as Monongalia and Braxton have responded to help fight the series of fires. Another large fire in Grant County has burned more than 500 acres as of Thursday morning.

Alex Dye

Hotter and more intense fires are likely coming to the Pacific Northwest’s cooler and wetter forests. That’s from new research led by an Oregon State University scientist. Comprehensive wildfire simulations for over a 23-million acre stretch of forest show that for a 30-year period beginning in 2035, Oregon’s western Cascades and Washington’s north Cascades – as well as the Puget Lowlands and Olympic Mountains – could see at least twice as much fire activity as seen in the last 30 years. “It’s time to start thinking about things that could counteract those climate effects,” said Alex Dye. He’s a research associate with OSU’s College of Forestry, and the lead author on the study published in the latest edition of JGR Biogeosciences. …Dye said that it can be challenging to assess fire probability in an environment where there isn’t much empirical information about the fire history to build models.

The Texas Panhandle wildfires killed at least two people and burned nearly 1.3 million acres in their first week — and the situation isn’t over. There are five active wildfires across the region, according to Texas A&M Forest Service. The largest of those is the Smokehouse Creek Fire in Hutchinson County, which alone has burned nearly 1.1 million acres and is the largest wildfire ever recorded in the state. That fire was just 15% contained as of Sunday afternoon. …Weather conditions across the state have made battling the blazes difficult. For days, the area has seen favorable fire weather – warmer temperatures, dry air and strong winds – but the National Weather Service said Monday morning a cold front is set to pass through, bringing cooler temperatures that will help minimize wildfire impact.

NORTH TEXAS – Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued a disaster declaration Tuesday due to widespread wildfires in the Panhandle amid hot and dry conditions. Dry vegetation and high winds were fueling the rapid growth of blazes. Abbott’s declaration includes 60 counties. Pantex, the main facility that assembles and disassembles America’s nuclear arsenal, shut down its operations Tuesday night because of nearby wildfires. But the plant’s operators said overnight on X, that it is “open for normal day shift operations for Wednesday, February 28.” The plant is located some 30 miles east of Amarillo. …The largest fire is the Smokehouse Creek fire in Hutchinson County, northeast of Amarillo. It is an estimated 500,000 acres and is 0% contained. The Amarillo Area Office of Emergency Management said late Tuesday night that “Randall County, Potter County, and City of Amarillo, Texas have declared a local state of disaster. …The Texas A&M Forest Service is bracing for more wildfire activity in the coming weeks.  

Additional coverage in the Dallas Morning News: Wildfire triggers evacuation for multiple parts of Texas Panhandle, forest service says

After an unusually active fall fire season that has seen responders struggle to get multiple blazes under control, all of Virginia’s wildfires except for the Matt’s Creek Fire in Bedford County have been contained. As of Monday night, the state had “no active wildfires” besides Matt’s Creek, said Virginia Department of Forestry spokesman Greg Bilyeu in an email. Virginia’s fall fire season runs from Oct. 15 to Nov. 30, a period when dead leaves provide ample fuel for any spark. This year has proved especially challenging, with the Department of Forestry responding to 113 wildfires that have burned more than 12,000 acres since the season began. By comparison, the agency has said the average annual acreage affected by wildfires in Virginia is 9,500. “We need no further proof that fall fire season has arrived with a vengeance,” said Chief of Fire and Emergency Response John Miller in a Nov. 16 statement. “We will remain vigilant to protect people and property.”

Bedford County, Virginia — The Matts Creek wildfire is now 6,835 acres, with containment up from 2 to 15 percent, according to the US Forest Service. Early Saturday, mapping had the fire at just under 6,000 acres. Forestry officials said winds would take smoke south of the fire Saturday. Very unhealthy and hazardous air quality was expected in Big Island Saturday afternoon and evening. Smoke models showed the heaviest smoke staying east of Bedford, affecting Forest and Altavista until Saturday night, but a slight shift could take dense smoke to Bedford or Lynchburg. For much of the last week, the smoke had been moving north, creating hazardous conditions in Lexington and unhealthy conditions as far north as Winchester. A wind shift Friday night was expected to push the smoke east — perhaps as far as Washington D.C. — before swinging around to pass through communities like Amherst and Lynchburg

WAYNESVILLE, N.C.  — A large North Carolina mountain wildfire that was sparked during a tractor-trailer crash on Interstate 40 grew a third in size on Saturday — starting the day at nearly 1,200 acres and expanding to just under 1,800 acres by 9:30 p.m. The fire began around 9 a.m. Thursday in Haywood County on I-40 at mile marker 3 near the tunnel after a tractor-trailer overturned in the westbound lanes near the Tennessee border, according to the U.S. Forest Service and the North Carolina Department of Transportation. The blaze, called the Black Bear Fire, was still burning Saturday in rugged terrain at mile marker 3, in Haywood County in the Appalachian Ranger District of the Pisgah National Forest. So far, the fire has scorched 1,193 acres and is 0 percent contained, the U.S. Forest Service said Saturday afternoon. At 9:30 p.m. Saturday, the Forest Service said the fire had burned 1,790 acres.

HENDERSONVILLE, North Carolina — Officials have declared a state of emergency in a western North Carolina community where a wildfire has burned hundreds of acres, some structures and now is threatening dozens of homes. Crews are fighting several separate blazes in forested areas of Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky as wide swaths of those states face moderate to severe drought condition s and warmer than normal temperatures. The 431-acre fire in Henderson County, North Carolina, has destroyed two homes, a cabin and an outbuilding, county officials said in a social media post Sunday that declared a state of emergency. Officials have identified 75 other structures that are threatened and said fire departments are focusing on structure protection while North Carolina Forest Services is focusing on putting in fire lines.

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – Fire and forestry leaders are reiterating the serious nature of the dry conditions after multiple brush fires within the last 48 hours. The Alabama Forestry Commission’s fire alert remains in place across the state and across the northern portion of the state no burn permits are being issued. …“We had about 53 fires on Saturday, 32 on Sunday. So that is way up from what is normal,” said Alabama Forestry Commission Northwest Regional Fire Specialist Karl Byrd. According to the Forestry Commission website, there are 147 wildfires in the state right now. 134 are contained, two are controlled and 11 are active.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Virginia – The state forestry department is listing some 3-dozen wildfires burning… all in the western third of the Commonwealth… as the fall fire season continues through the month of November. Quaker Run in Madison County is by far the biggest and keep jumping containment lines, however firefighters also have four separate fire incidents in Buchanan County alone… one of them the 2nd-largest. The Fish and Chips fire is at 835 acres with 90% contained. The 3rd largest fire that initially threatened some structures in Pulaski County near the Giles County line remains at 536 acres with 100% contained.

The Georgia Forestry Commission has advised a high fire danger warning to the people of Northwest Georgia and is asking the community to refrain from burning or starting fires temporarily. “There’s been no measurable rain for over a month, and conditions are critically dry,” said Georgia Forestry Commission Director Tim Lowrimore. “Seasonal leaf fall, along with sustained gusty winds, are contributing to high fire risk conditions. We’re recommending any planned outdoor burning be postponed for now.” According to the GFC, many weather factors can dictate the risk, intensity and spread of wildfires. …The majority of fires that get out of hand are caused by humans and care must be exercised whenever open burning is conducted.

A Madison County wildfire that broke out near the community of Syria Oct. 24 has now spread to almost 2,500 acres as state and local firefighters work to contain it. While no structures have been damaged by the blaze to date, Madison County officials have issued a voluntary evacuation for residents north of Finks Hollow Lane, which lies near the border of Shenandoah National Park. The Quaker Run Fire, named for another nearby road, has breached two containment lines since it began. Frequently called fire lines or fire breaks, these perimeters of earth are cleared by firefighters to halt a wildfire’s advance by depriving it of fuel. An initial 650-acre containment line was not completed before the fire advanced beyond its limits early last week. While firefighters went on to construct a larger 1,250-acre perimeter, the blaze broke through it Thursday and then on Saturday breached a 1,600-acre line.

ETOWAH, Tenn. — A wildfire is burning in the Cherokee National Forest near Etowah, Tennessee. Federal wildland firefighters are working to suppress the fire, which is burning southeast of Etowah in steep terrain. The fire is on Starr Mountain in a remote location. The Cherokee National Forest says it does not pose an immediate threat to people or structures. Firefighters started working around 3:40 p.m. on Sunday and continued late that night. “The steep, remote location of the fire makes it inaccessible by ground crews limiting suppression tactics to firing operations that create a burned perimeter around the fire. The burned perimeter reduces fuel for additional fire spread,” the Cherokee National Forest said in a press release.

The Alabama Forestry Commission has issued a fire alert for the entire state, effective immediately. The alert notifies citizens to be careful around any flames and cautious toward what activities could spark one. The AFC has responded to 142 wildfires burning more than 1,200 acres in just the last seven days. Tuscaloosa County Forester Samuel Boswell shares what the AFC is asking from residents. …The Tuscaloosa County Fire Department estimates 8-10% of fires they respond to are wildfires. The fire alert prohibits the ability to obtain a burn permit, leaving counties north of Interstate 20 on a strict no burn permit policy. Fire Marshall Patrick Stines explains what that means.

GEORGIA — Fire season is upon us and the Georgia Forestry Commission said fire risks are high due to a severe drought in our area. It’s such a pretty sight to see when the leaves turn to bright, vibrant colors, but Aubrey Brown, the Wildland Urban Interface Specialist with the Georgia Forestry Commission said it’s a sign that fire season is here. …He said October is usually one of the driest months, but Northwest Georgia is currently under a significant drought which plays a big role in fire risk. …With fire risk currently high the Forestry Commission is asking people to wait until will a good amount of rain before you burn. If you do have the burn, Brown said make sure you’re in a well maintained fire area, have a constant water source and be aware of the weather and fire danger risk.