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As southern California continues to suffer from wildfires, officials in another part of the country fear their area could be next – thanks to tons of dry wood left over from Hurricane Helene’s wind and flooding.

“The number one fire threat in western North Carolina seems to be all the trees on the ground,” said Joe Stewart, vice president of government affairs for the Independent Å˽ðÁ«´«Ã½Ó³»­ Agents of North Carolina. “There’s a lot of concern about it.”

Four months after Helene crushed much of western North Carolina and east Tennessee with unprecedented flooding and left piles and piles of uprooted trees and brush, insurance interests and fire management officials are increasingly worried about wildfires that could rival those seen in California in recent weeks.

Helene knocked down or uprooted trees over an estimated 820,000 acres of forestland in Carolina when it slogged through in late September, the Raleigh News & Observer . In Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests, Helene caused moderate to catastrophic damage to some 187,000 acres, vastly increasing the threat of wildfire, the North Carolina Forest Service said in a bulletin.

To help people clear some of the debris left by the unusually destructive storm, the service in October waived the requirement for burn permits in 21 counties. But it warned residents to use caution when burning debris.

Adding to the potential fuel for fire are the hundreds of new homes and commercial buildings that have sprung up in the region in the last decade, especially around the popular city of Asheville. As of 2020, more than half of North Carolina residents lived in wildland-urban interface areas shown to be a threat for increased wildfires, the NC Forest Service said.

“The topography also makes it difficult to reach and repair some places,” Stewart added.

Few homeowners in the region have considered the risk of fire and many may not be fully insured. “A lot of people don’t see secondary perils,” Stewart said.

And although November was slightly wetter than in 2023, December brought less precipitation than it did the year before, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Much of this year so far, especially last week, has been unusually dry in much of the state, raising the fire threat level, authorities said.

Experts are now so concerned that they have planned a meeting next week, Jan. 28, to discuss the risk and ways to reduce it. North Carolina State University’s in Asheville is hosting the gathering.

Compounding the potential risk from fire is a continuing shortage of firefighters in parts of the state, according to news reports. North Carolina saw a decline of almost 5,000 volunteer firefighters, from 2020 to 2023. That’s when the North Carolina Association of Fire Chiefs put out an urgent call for more volunteers to sign up. But the numbers have changed little since then, the N&O has noted.

Another issue: Some in the state have blamed the homebuilders’ lobby for pushing through legislation last year that limits local governments’ abilities to heighten fire prevention and other regulations beyond what state building codes already require, news sites have reported. Firefighter organizations raised red flags last fall after the governor’s veto of the legislation was overridden.

Wildfires in parts of the state could exacerbate insurance costs for some property owners in the region, costs that have risen steadily for homes, businesses and mobile homes in recent years. In the most recent increase, North Carolina’s insurance commissioner, Mike Causey, announced last week that he had negotiated a 15% average rate increase for homeowner insurance. That came after the North Carolina Rate Bureau, basing its recommendation on data from property insurers, had asked for a 42% average increase.

Counties that endured historic flooding from Helene will see smaller increases than other parts of the state.

Top photo: North Carolina’s Chimney Rock area forest fire in 2016, a year that saw a number of fires in the area. (Adobe Stock images)

Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters Wildfire