Relentless smoke spreads fear at edge of southern wildfires

Crippling drought conditions are sparking blaze after blaze across six states in the South.

“One of our highest priorities is to get people back into their homes and businesses as quickly as we can safely do so”, he said.

Over 80,000 acres of land stand torched as dozens of wildfires rage across the southeastern United States this week. Firefighters say they’re expecting this fire to become even more active heading into the weekend.

Longtime western North Carolina resident Alan Marler who lives near Asheville Regional Airport said, “It’s as bad as I’ve ever seen”. Drought conditions continue to spread eastward, and nearly half of the state is classified under drought conditions or considered abnormally dry. These range from the undergrowth to sticks, leaves and logs.

Even parking a auto off-road has been prohibited amid fears a hot tailpipe could ignite dry leaves below.

Ag News reports that investigators with the Tennessee Department of Agriculture’s (TDA) Agriculture Crime Unit, along with authorities in Sequatchie and Monroe Counties and the State Fire Marshal’s office have arrested two people suspected in separate arson cases.

On Wednesday, as evacuations continued, the scorched acreage from all of the wildfires in North Carolina grew to 49,112 acres, according to officials.

Pat McCrory visited hard-hit Clay and Cherokee counties November 14. The governor announced on Monday that the estimated cost of these fires is more than $10 million so far.

Winds remained calm through most of the day Tuesday as crews worked to make sure containment lines were clear of any debris that might allow the fire to traverse those lines.

The most pressing fire is the Party Rock Fire impacting the area surrounding Lake Lure & Chimney Rock.

Not that we shouldn’t be paying attention to the Chronic Ward now planning to install itself in the Executive Branch of government, but someone ought to notice that North Carolina and Georgia are burning down.

Remnants of the fires left smoke blankets in the Charlotte areas, leading to Air Quality Alerts. Satellite images show a blanket of smoke over the skies in several Southern states.

Emergency workers in Tennessee have been trying to contain 67 fires burning almost 16,000 acres. Another 440 people were fighting the Party Rock and Chestnut Knob fires further east. “This is extremely unsafe work, and I especially want to thank the firefighters, first responders, sheriffs and other emergency personnel that have risked their own lives to protect our citizens and property”.

Dry conditions contributed to the wildfires, and as they continue to burn, the smoke is reaching parts of Middle Tennessee, including Wilson County.

The US Forest Service, as reported by ABC News, has already tracked around 40 active fires.

Officials said they would normally fight this fire with about 700 people.

Nationally, “there’s a pretty good ability to help out the South right now”, said Jennifer Jones, a spokeswoman with the Forest Service.

A total fire ban is now in effect in the Chattahoochee and Oconee National Forests.