Hurricane Helene damaged tens of thousands of acres of forests throughout Western North Carolina. Now those downed trees, fallen foliage and other debris is at risk of becoming fuel for wildfires, state and local officials warn.
While fire risk conditions change daily, peak months for the fall fire season run from October through early December in North Carolina, according to the state’s forest service.
The storm caused “moderate to catastrophic damage” to more than 187,000 acres of the Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests, including 117,000 acres of vegetation loss, according to analyses from the NC Forest Service.
“The loss of such a large portion of the ecosystem can have several negative effects, such as the threat of wildfire due to increased fuel levels, loss of vital wildlife habitat, impacts on watershed health and the higher potential for invasive species to thrive,” a news release from the agency stated.
The bulk of the damage occurred in the Pisgah National Forest, particularly in areas within Yancey, Mitchell, McDowell, and Avery counties, according to the agency.
Larry Pierson, deputy chief of the Swannanoa Fire Department, told BPR the work of preventing or controlling wildfires has grown exponentially since the storm.
“Essentially when we're making a fire line to control a wildfire, we're making a trail. We're cutting down to the mineral soil, through the leaf litter,” he explained. “I'm just guesstimating we're going to have to have five times as many sawyers to be able to construct the line than we normally would.”
Sawyers manage the spread of wildfires by cutting down trees and clearing vegetation to create breaks in the earth to cut off fuel for the fires.
“Right now we have a lot of the leaf litter…so now that's on the ground as fuel but that also opens up the canopy of the forest. So the sunlight is penetrating through the canopy of the forest, hitting the forest floor, which will dry out fuels faster, warm them up faster,” Pierson said. “So all things are kind of exacerbated during the fall fire season.”
Due to current high fire risks and potential impacts to the air, the Asheville-Buncombe Air Quality Agency and area fire chiefs are encouraging residents to not burn storm debris and allow it to be picked up for free and disposed of by the municipality, the county stated.
If you must burn, the burning of leaves, brush, and yard trimmings is permitted on burning days between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m.
However the county prohibits burning of household trash, building materials, asphaltic materials, cardboard, processed wood and papers. Burning is also always prohibited in the City of Asheville.
To find out if it is a burning day, residents can call 828-250-6767 or go to www.abairquality.org.
