Drought, wind, and debris from recent hurricanes are stoking fires across the US

In North Carolina, wildfires stoked by unusually dry air and debris from last year’s Hurricane Helene are burning out of control.

According to a N.C. Forest Service spokesperson, more than 500 personnel from North Carolna and other states across the country are supporting the Black Cove Complex in Polk County.

"Excessive storm debris and timber damage from Hurricane Helene has created many challenges for firefighting efforts," said Philip Jackson with the N.C. Forest Service.

In Florida, there are dozens of blazes, including one that scorched about 42 square miles in Miami-Dade County. And they continue to burn in Oklahoma, where four people have died this month due to wind-driven fires. Those states were just three of eight where large fires were being reported on Friday.

Some 14,800 wildfires have burned 1,105 square miles so far this year — well above the 10-year average, according to data released Friday by the National Interagency Fire Center. Most devastating were the Los Angeles wildfires in January, fueled by dry vegetation and howling winds, that destroyed entire neighborhoods.

Wildfires have happened with such frequency in recent years that many U.S. fire officials say there is no longer a “fire season,” which traditionally ran from late spring through the fall. That is because climate change, caused by the burning of fuels like gasoline and coal, has raised average global temperatures, creating drier conditions that allow wildfires, which are mostly mostly caused by humans, to burn longer and more intensely.

While major fires often happen early in the year — in February 2024, Texas experienced the largest wildfire in state history — this year is a bit unusual “because we’re seeing it happen in so many places,” said Brad Rippey, a U.S. Department of Agriculture meteorologist who monitors drought.

This week, 45% of the country is in drought, when historically it's around 20% at any given time, Rippey said. That dried out lots of fuel just waiting for a spark — from freeze-dried grasses in the southern Plains to downed trees and brush from hurricanes that ravaged parts of the southeast and southern Appalachians in recent years.

The National Interagency Fire Center's significant wildfire outlook notes that several states still have debris from hurricanes Laura, Ida, Debby and Idalia in the past five years, as well as from ice storms and other severe weather.

Add in gusty winds and low humidity, “and you’ve got a pretty ripe situation for wildfires,” Rippey said.

In Hurricane Helene-devastated North Carolina, power lines downed by strong winds have been blamed for two of three large fires that have burned for more than a week in an area where the mean relative humidity this month has been the lowest on record, officials said. Impassable areas and lots of toppled trees are making it difficult to reach intense and erratic fires that are spreading rapidly because of high winds and dry weather.

Many roads have either been covered with storm debris or "they have just been completely washed away,” said Jackson, who said the fire danger could plague the state for years as more debris dries out.

A Red Flag Warning was issued for the area due to increased temperature, low humidity and increased winds, all conditions favorable for fire progression. Currently, the Black Cove Fire is 3,288 acres in size and only 17% contained.

Because of the shifting winds and dry weather throughout the day, the fire has continued to be intense with rapid fire spread and extreme burning conditions. Officials say the southwest portion of Black Cove remains a priority to secure the fire perimeter and protect homes within the Skyland Acres area.

The Deep Woods fire is 3,373 acres in size and 30% contained. Officials say the fire is burning about 5 miles northwest of Columbus in timber on state-owned and private land in the Green RIver Gorge and in the Holbert Cove communities.

"By utilizing the containment lines, firefighters were able to complete successful strategic firing operations to protect homes close to Green River Road," Jackson added. "The purpose of the firing operation is to bring strategic and slow-moving fire within the unburned fuels with the lower temperatures and elevated humidity levels overnight."

He said a combination of wildland and structural firefighters were present overnight Thursday to make sure firing operations were safe and successful.

Of the current fires in Western North Carolina, the Fish Hook fire is the most contained at 95%. It is 199 acres in size and burning approxtimately 5 miles northwest of Mill Spring on private land near Lake Adger. Officials say containment is expected to increase in the coming days. Firefighters will remain on the scene until the fire is no longer a threat.

Much of Florida also is in drought, contributing to an earlier-than-normal fire season that included a massive brush fire in Miami-Dade County that at one point hindered travel to and from the Florida Keys.

That fire is 95% contained while dozens of smaller fires continue to burn, according to the Florida Forest Service. Many counties are under red flag warnings, meaning conditions are favorable for fires to occur.

West Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, Missouri and South Carolina also report large wildfires.

The greatest wildfire potential is in the southeast and the southern Plains, and will be significant into April in most of Texas and parts of New Mexico and Arizona, as well as several southeastern states, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

La Nina — a periodic cooling of the Pacific Ocean that can shift the jet stream and lead to cooler, drier air — might have affected conditions in the southern U.S., said Tim Brown, director of the Western Regional Climate Center.

But there also has been long-term drying in the southwest as temperatures overall increase with global warming, said Rippey, who has monitored drought for more than 25 years. Warmer temperatures have led to more erratic precipitation that tends to fall more heavily in short periods, leading much of it to run off rather than soak into the ground.

“I do think that contributes to more wildfires,” brown said.

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