News

Dousing wildfire will be 'marathon not a sprint'

Almost 100 homeowners turned out Sunday night to hear an update on the fire in the Fruitland and Kyle's Creek community that threatens 75 homes.

By BILL MOSS & AMY B. MCCRAW, Published: November 6, 2023

FRUITLAND — When Wren Owen and her husband, Christopher, first heard about the Poplar Drive fire on Friday afternoon, they thought little of it.

“It was not until yesterday morning and we started seeing all the fire trucks lining up on our roads," she said Sunday night. "We had a police officer not letting people through unless you live back there, and that's when they told us that it was actually coming in our direction. They started cutting a (fire) line in the back, and it looks like it's turned around at this point.”

Wren, who lives on Rhodes Road, was among more than 90 homeowners who turned out Sunday night at Fruitland Baptist Church to hear an update from fire, emergency management and N.C. Forest Service officials on the wildfire, which has grown to around 450 acres, remains just 5 percent contained and threatens as many as 75 homes.

Wren and her husband, who have four children from a baby to 12 years old, had not been told to evacuate although some neighbors have.

“We were told to prepare so we did pack our bags,” she said. The kids were “a little scared yesterday — not as scared today now that they know it’s turned around. We try to keep it nonchalant. We actually  turned off our heat and our air last night because we worried about the smoke inside our house. We were worried about the kids’ lungs.”

Residents of the Kyles Creek, Terry's Gap Road, Green Mountain and Poplar Road area may not truly rest easy for a while. Edneyville Fire & Rescue Chief Robert Griffin warned that a fire like this in extemely dry conditions won't be extinguished quickly.

“At best, realistically, the last person that leaves is going to be 21 days," Griffin told reporters at the church Sunday night. "The only way that’ll change is if we get significant rainfall. Looking at something like this, it’s a marathon and not a sprint. Our hope is within the next seven days, we’ll have real good control on it and then extreme mop-up by the time 10 days is up and then the rest of it is going to be monitoring” for hot spots.

Many homeowners listened grim-faced at the updates from the fire officials but all stood and applauded when one resident praised the work of the firefighters and other first responders who have been on the ground fighting the blaze since mid-day Friday.

EARLIER COVERAGE:

Fire, emergency management and N.C. Forest Service personnel continue to work to control the brush fire in the East Poplar Road and Kyles Creek Road area of Henderson County that threatens as many as 75 homes and other structures.

The Forest Service is continuing to access the fire and an additional update will be provided to the community regarding the size and the containment of the fire. Fire officials have identified 75 structures that are in the current fire containment zone, Mike Morgan, Henderson County's chief communications officer, said in an update Sunday afternoon.

Fire Departments are focusing on the threat to structures while the N.C. Forest Services is focusing on putting in the fire lines.   So far, three structures have been heavily damaged as a result of the fire.  
Property owners from the affected areas may come to the Fruitland Baptist Church at 5 p.m. Sunday for a briefing from officials.
Cause of the fire is unknown and is currently under investigation. There are no injuries.
With dry conditions and low relative humidity expected to continue over the next several days, the N.C. Forest Service is strongly urging the public to postpone any and all outdoor burning.

Due to increased fire risk, the N.C. Forest Service on Sunday issued a ban on all open burning and has canceled all burning permits for Henderson, Burke, Cherokee, Clay, Cleveland, Gaston, Graham, Jackson, Macon, McDowell, Polk, Rutherford, Swain and Transylvania counties effective 5 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 5, until further notice.

“Several counties in Western North Carolina are currently in a severe drought, and we are seeing wildfire activity increase due to dry conditions," Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler said in a statement. "Because dry conditions are expected to continue this burn ban is necessary to reduce the risk of fires starting and spreading quickly. Our top priority is always to protect lives, property and forestland across the state. Even though not all areas of the North Carolina fall under the burn ban, we do encourage extreme caution with any burning as conditions are dry in many areas of the state. We will continue to assess conditions in the coming weeks to determine if we need to expand the burn ban.”

Under North Carolina law, the ban prohibits all open burning in the affected counties, regardless of whether a permit was previously issued. The issuance of any new permits has also been suspended until the ban is lifted. Anyone violating the burn ban faces a $100 fine plus $183 court costs. Any person responsible for setting a fire may be liable for any expenses related to extinguishing the fire.

Edneyville fire officials thank the public for the donations received thus far.  For anyone planning to make donations, a drop-off location has been established at Fruitland Baptist Church in their fellowship hall, 150 College Street, Hendersonville.  The tremendous community support has reduced the needs so no additional supplies are needed immediately.  Specific needs will continue to be communicated with the public. The public is encouraged to use caution in the area around Fruitland Road and Fruitland Bible Institute due to heavy presence of emergency personnel.

The 250-acre Poplar Drive brush fire in the Edneyville community had claimed two homes and a shed and was threatening 34 more structures at 9 a.m. Sunday, the N.C. Forest Service said.

Henderson County Emergency Management crews and the Henderson County Sherriff’s Office have implemented evacuations in the Poplar Drive and Kyles Creek area north of Green Mountain Road and east of Terry's Gap Road. The fire was just 5 percent contained on Sunday morning, the forest service said.

"Firefighters were able to hold the fires within most of the lines overnight," the sheriff's office said in an update at 8 a.m. Sunday. "However, containment was lost in a few of the areas. At this time residences located at 1072 Kyle's Creek Road and 650 East Poplar Drive sustained substantial damage. Currently, no other structures appear to be threatened at this time."

Firefighting personnel will continue establishing and strengthening containment lines, conducting strategic firing operations and providing structure protection. Personnel with the N.C. Forest Service, U.S. Forest Service, Office of State Fire Marshal, Edneyville Fire & Rescue, Henderson County Emergency Management and fire departments from Buncombe, Henderson, Polk and Transylvania counties are responding to the incident.

Aviation resources include a scout plane and helicopter from the N.C. Forest Service.      

The cause of the fire is unknown and currently under investigation. There are no injuries.

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.

If anyone is in need of a place to stay once they evacuate, the cafeteria at the Fruitland Bible Institute will be open, authorities said. Henderson County issued an outdoor burning ban effective 9 p.m. Saturday. The ban will remain in effect until conditions improve.

The fire had damaged at least two other structures on 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 homes were destroyed as of 3 p.m., according to a press release from the Henderson County Sheriff's Office.

Fire crews were establishing fire lines, conducting strategic firing operations and providing structure protection, the N.C. Forest Service said in a news release Saturday night. Personnel with the N.C. Forest Service, U.S. Forest Service, Office of State Fire Marshal, Edneyville Fire & Rescue, Henderson County Emergency Management and fire departments from Buncombe, Henderson, Polk and Transylvania counties responded to the incident. Aviation resources include a single engine air tanker, scout plane and two helicopters from the N.C. Forest Service and an additional helicopter from the U.S. Forest Service.      

“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.
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.

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.