The fight against destructive wildfires tearing through North Carolina and South Carolina is being significantly hampered by Hurricane Helene’s lingering devastation, officials revealed, calling the situation “an absolute travesty.”
Adding to fire-related concerns in the region, South Carolina continues to address the large Table Rock and Persimmon Ridge fires burning over 6,100 acres.
The wildfires have prompted Gov. Henry McMaster to issue a state of emergency.
On Wednesday, the South Carolina Forestry Commission said that another day of extreme fire behavior in both incidents in Greenville and Pickens counties, South Carolina, prompted a new round of evacuations and led to a second-straight day of rapid expansion.
Although it will remain dry on Thursday, the fire threat across the Carolinas will not be as great as it was Wednesday, as high pressure moves in overhead and causes the winds to diminish.
‘It is an absolute travesty that it’s happened’
Helene swept through the region six months ago, in late September, leaving behind a trail of destruction that is now proving to be a major obstacle in containing the blazes that have consumed nearly 15,000 acres in the Carolinas.
As evacuation orders remain in place for several neighborhoods, the stark reality of the intertwined disasters is becoming increasingly clear, North Carolina Forest Service Supervisor Nicholas Hoffmann said.
“It is an absolute travesty that it’s happened,” he emphasized. “And the Helene damage is actually one of the biggest contributing factors to the difficulty in fighting this fire because of all the damage, the landslides, the lack of access that it has created … in addition to the steep, steep terrain and the high winds we’re having right now.”
Fire officials are now grappling with a two-layered crisis as North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein broadened his state of emergency Wednesday evening as officials responded to the wildfires in the western region.
FOX Weather meteorologists and correspondents spent weeks on the ground in North Carolina following Helene, and their reports painted a stark picture of the sheer volume of fallen trees and debris that would dry out and become potent fuel, increasing the fire risk.
“You have thousands of trees that are just lying in the forest that have been drying up over the last couple of months, and it’s a tinderbox,” FOX Weather Meteorologist Britta Merwin said. “These are hard areas to access. That’s what made it so challenging with Helene and the response efforts, and they’re still trying to rebuild. Now, they have a second natural disaster pretty much on their hands.”
The destructive power of wildfires in Polk County, North Carolina, became evident after more than a dozen homes and buildings were destroyed on Tuesday.
Officials report that the Black Cove Fire, which was started by a downed power line, has burned over 3,000 acres.
The nearby Deep Woods Fire has consumed over 3,200 acres. Both fires have little containment.
The smaller Fish Hook Fire is partially contained, but the situation led to the evacuation of 165 homes by Tuesday evening.
Simultaneously, South Carolina also issued evacuation orders in Greenville and Pickens counties due to the Persimmon Ridge Fire, which is part of the larger Table Rock Fire Complex.
On Wednesday, those evacuations were expanded to residents of Oil Camp Creek Road east to River Falls Road and south to Highway 11 to West Gate Road.
The South Carolina Forestry Commission said that good progress was made in battling the blaze on Tuesday, but later, “wind gusts dramatically increased fire activity.”
Both are at 0% containment. On the eastern side of South Carolina, the Horry Fire has engulfed over 2,000 acres and is almost fully contained.