News

Large brush fire in Edneyville forces evacuations and damages structures

A firefighting helicopter carrying water flies over Edneyville Saturday morning on its way to a large brush fire in the community.

By Amy McCraw, Published: November 4, 2023

Firefighters evacuated residents from an Edneyville neighborhood Saturday as a brush fire charred more than 200 acres and burned at least one abandoned structure in the community then issued an advisory early Sunday recommending people living  above the 300 block of East Poplar and West Poplar roads evacuate because of fire conditions.

The fire had also damaged at least two other structures as of early Saturday, firefighters said.

By 3 p.m., fire officials estimated that the fire in the East Poplar Road and Kyles Creek Road area was less than 10 percent contained. No injuries were reported and no residences were destroyed as of 3 p.m., according to a press release from the Henderson County Sheriff's Office. 

Fire crews on Saturday afternoon were continuing to construct fire lines and protect exposed structures.

Property owners from the affected areas were invited to come to the Fruitland Baptist Church at 6 p.m. for a briefing from officials, according to the press release.

“We have a fire that is not contained at this point in time,” Edneyville Fire Department Chief Robert Griffin said shortly after 10 a.m. Saturday.
Firefighters decided to evacuate people from Kyles Creek Road above Folsmont Road Saturday morning after wind and 10 percent humidity combined with extremely dry conditions to fuel the blaze that began Friday after a controlled burn from earlier in the week rekindled.
Edneyville Fire Department Captain Frankie Laughter said several homes in the area were threatened by the fire.
“The humidity and this wind are really driving it,” he said.
Deputies from the sheriff's office blocked the road leading into the Kyles Creek area from Green Mountain Road Saturday morning as the evacuations were taking place.
All along other roads in the area of the fire people stood outside their homes and vehicles Saturday morning gazing up at the thick smoke billowing from the fire. A cloud of smoke hanging over Edneyville was also visible Saturday from Four Season’s Boulevard and other parts of Hendersonville.
Firefighters set up a command post and staging area to coordinate equipment and emergency personnel Saturday at Edneyville’s Fire Station 2 on Fruitland Road and across the road at the Fruitland Baptist Bible College.
Griffin said from the command post on Saturday morning that he had no idea of the current size of the fire or how many more acres it might consume before it could be contained.
Firefighters from every department in Henderson County battled the blaze on Saturday along with firefighters from Buncombe, Transylvania and Polk counties. Griffin said between 120 and 150 firefighters had responded to the fire by Saturday morning.
A N.C. Forest Service helicopter equipped to carry water made “a few dumps” Saturday morning, Griffin said. But he said wind in the area would likely mean that the helicopter would have to be grounded.
Griffin described the fire as the worst he had seen since a brush fire in the community in 2016.
He said he had called on several state officials to issue a burning ban in Henderson County on Wednesday. But as of Saturday, no burning ban was issued for the county.
A statement from the sheriff’s office on Saturday said outdoor burning is strongly discouraged until the extremely dry conditions in the area improve.

Emergency response officials on Saturday afternoon encouraged the public to avoid the areas of Kyles Creek Road, East Poplar Drive, Green Mountain Road, Rhodes Road and any neighborhoods that connect off those roads to allow fire crews to operate safely. 

Edneyville’s fire department and the N. C Forest Service were first dispatched to the area near Green Mountain Road where the fire began at about 3:40 p.m. on Friday. Crews arrived to find about three acres of rapidly burning fire in a heavily wooded area. Firefighters got an initial hand line around the fire but conditions being so dry and fuel load being heavy, lines did not contain the blaze, according to a press release from Griffin.

 Fire officials called in additional resources and had about a 40% containment around the fire by midnight, and fire conditions had died down at that time. Around 5 a.m. on Saturday, fire conditions changed rapidly as humidity levels were in the low teens and wind picked up to around 20 miles per hour. according to the press release from Griffin

At this time there is no immediate need for donations for the firefighters, according to the sheriff’s office press release which noted that public support Saturday was tremendous.