A number of fires have erupted in Georgia and western North Carolina, areas severely impacted by Hurricane Helene. Virginia Iglesias, a researcher at the University of Colorado Boulder focusing on climate variability’s effects on social-environmental systems, explains that fallen trees in some locations can serve as fuel, increasing fire risk both in the immediate aftermath and over the long term.
“Post-hurricane, many dead trees lay on the ground, allowing sunlight to penetrate the forest floor,” Iglesias noted. “This saturation of sunlight facilitates the drying of biomass, making it easier for fires to ignite. In the short term, one of the consequences of these fires is the challenge they pose for firefighters, as many logs obstruct roads.”
This situation transpired last week in Polk County, North Carolina, where firefighters had difficulty maneuvering through fallen trees to manage an approximately 500-acre blaze in the vicinity, as reported by Blue Ridge Public Radio. These downed trees can remain a fire hazard for years after a hurricane, especially in the Southeast, where dry pine needles are notably flammable.
For instance, Hurricane Michael ravaged around 1.3 million acres of longleaf pine territory in Florida’s Panhandle in 2018, resulting in dry conditions that led to the Bertha Swamp Road Fire in 2022, which scorched over 33,000 acres.
Some fire experts express concern that the increased sunlight on previously shaded areas could stimulate the growth of plants like rhododendron and mountain laurel in the southern Appalachians, which burn fiercely if ignited.
“Now we have full sunlight in areas that previously didn’t receive it,” stated Gary C. Wood, a former North Carolina Forest Service worker currently coordinating wildfire management strategies for the Wildland Fire Leadership Council’s Southeast Region. “Such conditions could significantly boost the growth of these plants, impacting firefighting efforts.”
Fire Management Techniques
While extensive research indicates that climate change is driving more severe fires out West, scientists are still investigating the direct link between climate and wildfires in the Southeast. However, certain studies suggest that warming is creating an environment conducive to wildfires across the region.
“Droughts in the Southeast and many other parts of the country are predicted to become more severe and more frequent due to climate change,” Iglesias stated. This could dramatically increase the area of forest burned in the southern Appalachians, according to a 2024 study.
To mitigate this, forest managers in the region commonly employ planned, controlled blazes known as prescribed burns, which help eliminate dry vegetation before it can ignite larger fires. However, this strategy faces several challenges. Over half of the 751 million acres of forest land in the United States is privately owned, meaning landowners have control over how their property is managed. Consequently, government agencies must obtain consent from homeowners before clearing fallen trees after a storm or conducting prescribed burns on their land. There’s an increasing effort among certain groups to encourage North Carolina homeowners to adopt this fire management technique, as reported by Grist.
Another complication is that climate change might reduce the number of favorable days for land managers to conduct prescribed burns in the Southeast, according to a 2024 study. For vegetation to ignite and burn, it must be sufficiently dry, but temperatures and wind conditions should remain moderate to prevent uncontrolled fires—factors that are becoming less predictable as global temperatures rise. Like wildfires, prescribed burns can also generate air pollution, negatively impacting air quality. My colleague Lee Hedgepeth has reported on this issue, which is currently affecting Birmingham, Alabama.
Meanwhile, recent funding and hiring freezes imposed by the Trump administration on wildland firefighting programs have left vast areas of the country ill-equipped to handle significant wildfires, according to experts.
