Evacuation orders because of wildfires have ended in the North Carolina mountains where Hurricane Helene did damage 18 weeks ago.
McDowell County Emergency Management said fires had burned in North Fork in the American Thread Road area, and in the Bat Cave Road area of Crooked Creek.
The agency, crediting the North Carolina Forest Service, said the Crooked Creek fire containment was at 55% with 220 acres burned. A downed power line during high winds on Wednesday sparked the blaze, it said.
No injuries or fatalities have been reported. One home was damaged.
The North Fork fire has zero containment and is estimated at 60 acres. Officials say the fire is burning a “rugged terrain above the North Fork of the Catawba River in the Graveyard Mountain area of the U.S. Forest Service Grandfather Ranger District of the Pisgah National Forest.”
This is east of N.C. 221 and Woodlawn.
There are no injuries or fatalities. No imminent threat to structures is reported, McDowell 911 said.
The North Carolina Forest Service on Wednesday, in a statement, said, “With low relative humidity, wind gusts and dry fuels, fire danger is expected to be high across the Piedmont, Foothills and Mountains. Conditions are expected to improve in the evening, but if outdoor burning can wait, let it wait.”
