Current:Home > FinanceEncroaching wildfires prompt North Carolina and Tennessee campgrounds to evacuate -WealthStream
Encroaching wildfires prompt North Carolina and Tennessee campgrounds to evacuate
View
Date:2025-04-18 05:46:53
PINNACLE, N.C. (AP) — Wildfires have prompted campgrounds in North Carolina and Tennessee to evacuate starting Sunday while firefighters prepared for high winds and low humidity on Monday, though officials hoped for some help from expected rain.
The National Weather Service’s office in Morristown, Tennessee, office issued a red flag warning into Tuesday in the East Tennessee mountains and southwest North Carolina, with winds between 25 and 50 mph Monday afternoon, increasing to 40 to 70 mph on Monday night with 80 mph gusts possible in some places.
In North Carolina, a youth camp and about a dozen homes were evacuated Sunday evening as the fire spread in the Sauratown Mountains in Stokes County, said Jimmy Holt, a ranger with the N.C. Forest Service, on Monday. About 50 children were safely evacuated from the Mountain Top Youth Camp and residents of about 12 threatened homes were advised to evacuate as the fire spread, Holt said. No injuries or damage to structures have been reported.
By Monday, the fire that was first reported Saturday evening had spread to 300 acres (121 hectares) with little containment and at least a hundred people are involved in fighting the blaze, including firefighters from Washington, Oregon, Utah and Montana, who are used to this type of ground, Holt said.
“They are some of the best firefighters in the country that we have right here right now,” he said.
Rain forecast for Tuesday could help contain the fire.
“It’s going to be a challenge today,” Holt said. “Yesterday was a very, very tough day we had on the mountain and today is going to be another tough day.”
Firefighters on the Cherokee National Forest, which spans 10 counties along the Tennessee border, are securing containment lines on existing fires before the wind event, the U.S. Forest Service said in a news release.
In Tennessee, authorities also ordered an evacuation at a campground on Whitwell Mountain as a wildfire stemming from an escaped campfire spread, Marion County Emergency Management Director Steve Lamb told news outlets.
“It’s a challenging terrain; it’s hard to access the areas where the fire is,” Lamb said. “We’re just having to work it out as we can; it will be some time.”
About 20 acres (8 hectares) had burned, Lamb said on Monday and the Whitwell Police Department said in a statement on social media that a helicopter was being used in an effort to help contain and extinguish the blaze.
veryGood! (6)
Related
- Arkansas State Police probe death of woman found after officer
- West Virginia bill letting teachers remove ‘threatening’ students from class heads to governor
- TikToker Dylan Mulvaney Has a Simple Solution for Dealing With Haters on Social Media
- Katie Couric talks colon cancer awareness, breast cancer diagnosis and becoming a grandmother
- Nevada attorney general revives 2020 fake electors case
- More than 63,000 infant swings recalled due to suffocation risk
- Shania Twain, Viola Davis, others honored with Barbie dolls for Women's Day, 65th anniversary
- West Virginia lawmakers OK bill drawing back one of the country’s strictest child vaccination laws
- 'Most Whopper
- Emma Stone, America Ferrera and More Best Dressed at Oscars 2024
Ranking
- Intel's stock did something it hasn't done since 2022
- What time does daylight saving time start? What is it? When to 'spring forward' this weekend
- Liverpool fans serenade team with 'You'll Never Walk Alone' rendition before Man City match
- Why Dwayne Johnson Is Rooting For Best Friend Emily Blunt and Oppenheimer at Oscars 2024
- NFL Week 15 picks straight up and against spread: Bills, Lions put No. 1 seed hopes on line
- Behind the scenes with the best supporting actress Oscar nominees ahead of the 2024 Academy Awards ceremony
- West Virginia bill letting teachers remove ‘threatening’ students from class heads to governor
- Why you should stop texting your kids at school
Recommendation
Mets have visions of grandeur, and a dynasty, with Juan Soto as major catalyst
Powerball winning numbers for March 9, 2024 drawing: Jackpot rises to $521 million
Jimmy Kimmel Takes a Dig at Barbie's 2024 Oscars Snub
This TikTok-Famous Drawstring Makeup Bag Declutters Your Vanity and Makes Getting Ready So Much Faster
Israel lets Palestinians go back to northern Gaza for first time in over a year as cease
Descendants of suffragists talk about the importance of women's voices in 2024
D’Angelo Russell scores 44 points in LeBron-less Lakers’ stunning 123-122 win over Bucks
2 National Guard soldiers, 1 Border Patrol agent killed in Texas helicopter crash are identified