North Carolina
No deaths reported amid 8 active wildfires in North Carolina, gov. says
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) – No deaths had been reported yet in connection with ongoing wildfires burning in parts of North Carolina over the last several days, the governor said Thursday.
Multiple buildings and structures had been damaged or destroyed by eight active wildfires burning in multiple counties — most notably in Polk County, located in Western North Carolina. No deaths had been listed in connection with the fires, however, the governor said during a press conference on Thursday, March 27.
North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein on Thursday made a new emergency declaration for the state due to the fires. The declaration opens up federal funding and resources to aid with fire response and recovery efforts.
North Carolina was already under a state of emergency because of the deadly Hurricane Helene, which hit the state exactly six months earlier. At least 106 North Carolinians died because of the storm, with more deaths reported in nearby states.
Helene hit western North Carolina particularly hard, devastating communities across and along the mountain region in September 2024. Severe flooding and strong winds destroyed homes, businesses, entire roadways and more during Helene.
In stark contrast, the region has been dealing with wildfires exactly six months post-Helene. Emergencies were issued in recent days for counties in parts of Western North Carolina and South Carolina, where evacuation orders were also underway for some.
—> More: 6 months after Hurricane Helene, Western North Carolina hit by wildfires
Gov. Stein said Thursday that the new state of emergency declaration would enable the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, to reimburse costs related to response and efforts. Some reimbursements from FEMA had already been promised, Stein said.
Statewide “mutual aid” had also been activated by the North Carolina Office of State Fire Marshal, the office announced Thursday. Fire departments throughout North Carolina, in addition to several departments from around the U.S., were deploying personnel and equipment to help suppress the fires.
Active wildfires as of Thursday
There were eight wildfires active in North Carolina as of 4:45 p.m. on Thursday, March 27, officials shared in a press release.
Below are the fires, their locations, how many acres have burned, and how contained they are as of Thursday — according to the office of state fire marshal:
- Black Cove Fire, Polk County: 3,052 acres burned, 17% contained
- Alarka #5 Fire, Swain County: 750 acres burned, 0% contained
- Rattlesnake Branch Fire, Haywood County: 175 acres burned, 0% contained
- Montieth Branch Fire, Jackson County: 50 acres burned, 0% contained
- Deep Woods Fire, Polk County: 3,231 acres burned, 11% contained
- Crusoe Island Road Fire, Columbus County: 343 acres burned, 75% contained
- Fish Hook Fire, Polk County: 199 acres burned, 86% contained
- Holly Shelter Road Fire, New Hanover County: 340 acres burned, 95% contained
You can find a map of active wildfires on the state’s website here.
Evacuations active due to Black Cove fire
A fire called the Black Cove Complex fire, burning in Polk and Henderson counties in North Carolina, was listed this week as the highest priority fire in the Southern United States by the National Interagency Fire Center.
Three fires make up the complex: Black Cove, Deep Woods, and Fish Hook.
New evacuations were ordered on March 26 to include the following areas in Polk County:
- Coyote Ridge
- 3155-6159 Holbert Cove Road
- Sam’s Gap Lane
The areas already under evacuation for the fires include the following areas in Polk and Henderson counties:
- Big Hungry Road
- Charity Branch Drive
- Deep Woods Lane
- Deer Trail
- English Heifer Cove
- Fox Paw Lane
- Gamelands Trail
- 1091 to 1528 Green River Cove Road
- 5079 – 7265 Holbert Cove Road
- Lady Slipper Trail
- Macedonia Road east of Interstate 26
- Moonshine Trace
- Oakview Lane
- Piney Gate Road
- Piney Overlook Lane
- Scarlets Mountain Road
- Skyland Acres Road
- South Fine Way
- Spurgeon Cove Lane
- Summer Haven Lane
- Volley Way
- Wesley Lane
- Windsong Lane
A Polk County emergency shelter hosted by the American Red Cross is located at the Polk County Senior Center/Meeting Place at 75 Carmel Lane in Columbus.
Pets are not accepted at the shelter, but anyone who needs to board their animals due to evacuations can call Polk County Animal Control at 828-817-7984.
Animal control officers recommended that pet owners grab copies of their pets’ health and vaccination records in the event they have to evacuate.
A Henderson County emergency shelter is active at the Henderson County Parks & Recreation Athletics and Activities Center at 208 South Grove Street in Hendersonville.
—> Severe air quality alerts issued for western North Carolina amid fires
Swain County evacuations
Evacuations were also underway in Swain County, where a wildfire was burning in the Alarka Community, according to the North Carolina Emergency Management department. Those required to evacuate were being notified directly, officials said on March 26.
The fire — which was “moving toward Frye Mountain, Shepard’s Creek, and Conley’s Creek,” officials said Wednesday — was believed to span more than 1,000 acres, and was 0% contained, as of 3:40 p.m.
It was the fourth wildfire reported in North Carolina at the time it was reported. It was not immediately clear if the fire in Rutherford County was considered a wildfire.
How to receive fire updates
The Polk County government and the North Carolina Forest Service are providing regular updates on the fire on their Facebook pages. Full press releases and other local resources for Polk County residents are available through the county fire marshal and emergency management website, found here.
Polk County residents can click here to sign up for the Everbridge emergency notification system used by county officials.
Henderson County residents can find updates through the Henderson County website here. They can sign up for the county’s emergency alert program by clicking here and filling out the required information.
Fire and emergency officials held a meeting on Tuesday, March 25, for Henderson County residents to get updates on the fires. Anyone who didn’t make it to the meeting can watch it here.
—> South Carolina fire allegedly started by teens triples in size, burns through mountains
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North Carolina
Foregone conclusion. Legal struggle over NC elections appointment power essentially ends with court ruling.
Technically, Democratic Gov. Josh Stein’s lawsuit against Republican leaders over the transfer of his election appointment power to the state auditor could go on for a number of months. But practically, it’s over.
Friday evening, the North Carolina Supreme Court ruled that the North Carolina Court of Appeals did not break any rules by allowing the power shift to go into effect on May 1, when a new State Board of Elections was appointed by Republican State Auditor Dave Boliek.
While the court did not technically rule on the state constitutional questions at play — does the power shift violate separation of powers or the governor’s duty to faithfully execute the law? — it clearly signaled its approval of the power shift in a 5-2 decision.
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Now, the majority Republican Court of Appeals will decide on those questions.
Ultimately, its decision may be appealed to the North Carolina Supreme Court to review again. Since the case deals only with the state constitution, there are no federal court appeal options, said Martin Warf, attorney for Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger.
North Carolina Democratic Party Chair Anderson Clayton confirmed.
“State court is where this is going to begin and die,” she said. “That’s what Republicans knew going into it.”
How we got here
For nearly a decade, Republican lawmakers have pushed for an elections appointment power shift.
Their various attempts have included a failed constitutional amendment creating an eight-member board with equal party representation, a law shifting appointment power to the legislature and an elimination of the board altogether to form a new Bipartisan State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement.
All have fallen short. Until now.
Last December, the legislature passed Senate Bill 382, a Hurricane Helene relief bill that also shifted elections appointment power from the governor to the state auditor, a newly Republican-held office.
In April, the Wake County Superior Court ruled 2-1 that taking away the governor’s election appointment power would hinder his constitutional duty to “take care that the laws be faithfully executed.”
A week later, an anonymous three-judge panel of the North Carolina Court of Appeals handed down a ruling allowing the power shift to go into effect while they considered the issue. The ruling did not include an explanation.
While Stein asked for the state Supreme Court to step in and postpone the changes until a full decision was made, the court did not do so. If that wasn’t enough to make the court’s stance clear, its Friday opinion certainly did the job.
According to the court’s reading of the state Constitution, the governor may head the executive branch, but he doesn’t “unilaterally exercise the executive power.” That’s for all 10 Council of State members, including the auditor, to share. Furthermore, the General Assembly is granted power under the state Constitution to assign many of those executive powers as they please, the opinion stated.
Separation of powers issues brought up by Stein are irrelevant, the opinion stated. While the legislature is the one making the decisions, the transfer of power is contained within the executive branch.
Democratic Justices Anita Earls and Allison Riggs dissented.
Earls accused her colleagues of “gaslighting” by claiming to not decide the constitutional issue while laying out their logic for supporting the power shift anyways. The majority opinion ignores precedent on executive power, and gives the legislature free rein to “reshuffle the powers and responsibilities of constitutional officers who are elected by the entire state,” she added.
“If the voters of North Carolina wanted a Republican official to control the State Board of Elections, they could have elected a Republican Governor,” Earls wrote. “If they wanted David Boliek (the Auditor) in particular to run our elections, they could have elected him Governor. The voters did not.”
After power shift, what’s next?
Democracy North Carolina policy director Katelin Kaiser worries that the state Supreme Court ruling will create a culture of fear.
What if Democratic Superintendent of Public Instruction Mo Green pushes back on the legislature’s stance on DEI? Are they going to modify his powers, Kaiser asked.
“It creates a requirement of loyalty to the North Carolina General Assembly,” she said. “Rather than the separation and balance of powers, it’s the General Assembly’s say, and if you don’t fall in line, you could be next.”
The courts won’t offer any relief, Clayton said, so instead she’s looking to another source of power: people’s voices.
It’s as important now as ever for educated voters to show up to election board meetings, Clayton said.
“It means making sure that we are present and vocal, and that we’re not also appointing folks that are going to just agree with what the Republican majority on the board says,” she said.
Further down the line, re-electing Justice Earls and flipping Republican state Supreme Court seats in 2028 is the Democratic plan, she said.
“We know that Republicans do not believe in fair and impartial judgments anymore,” Clayton said. “They believe in partisan acts and empowering their own party to ignore the Constitution.”
Kaiser said Democracy NC will bolster its county election board monitoring program and continue advocating for elections officials. For example, they’d like the legislature to change a 1999 law that allows county elections directors to be paid as little as $12 an hour.
“We’ve seen time and time again that their workload increases, and yet, many times the state does nothing to support,” she said.
There’s no question that Republican legislators will win the case, Common Cause policy director Ann Webb said. The only question is how long it will take until the litigation officially ends.
“I think the question is really up to the Governor at this point, whether to continue to pursue this case, recognizing that it’s been signaled from both of these courts where they stand,” Webb said.
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- Southern Living highlighted two Western North Carolina locations among its 25 best Southern road trip destinations.
- Sliding Rock in Pisgah National Forest offers a unique natural waterslide experience for visitors.
- Grandfather Mountain’s Mile High Swinging Bridge provides breathtaking views and an adrenaline rush at a high elevation.
With summer approaching fast, Southern Living named 25 road trip locations in the southern U.S. – including two right here in Western North Carolina.
Established in 1966, Southern Living aims to “celebrate the food, homes and places that define our region.” The magazine has recognized WNC locations plenty of times, including among a recent round of studies honoring the “South’s Best.”
On a list published May 24, 2025, of 12 “unforgettable” road trip stops, three locations in N.C. were honored – two of which were located in the western region of the state.
Here’s what Southern Living writers said about the N.C. stops that “every Southerner should see this summer.”
Bucket list road trip stops in North Carolina
The three suggestions Southern Living writers had for road trip stops in N.C. included Sliding Rock in Pisgah Forest, the Mile High Swinging Bridge at Grandfather Mountain and Wilson’s Whirligig Park.
Here’s what to know about the two WNC locations mentioned.
Sliding Rock, NC
Not for the first time, Pisgah National Forest made Southern Living’s list. This time, writers suggested a road trip stop at Sliding Rock, WNC’s natural water slide.
Sixty feet in length, transporting 11,000 gallons of cold, steadily flowing mountain water, Sliding Rock is the perfect stop for Blue Ridge Parkway road trippers looking to cool down and experience a unique regional staple.
For $5, visitors can join the sliding fun or watch from observation decks and nearby trails. Asheville’s tourism website ExploreAsheville.com suggests sliding between Memorial Day and Labor Day when lifeguards are on duty and bathrooms/changing rooms are open.
The same article suggests arriving early and avoiding busiest hours between noon-4 p.m.
Location: Near Brevard, Sliding Rock is on U.S. 276 about 7.5 miles north of the Pisgah Forest intersection of N.C. 280, U.S. 64 and U.S. 276.
Mile High Swinging Bridge
The other WNC option on Southern Living’s list was the Mile High Swinging Bridge at Grandfather mountain, which writers called a “must-stop.”
Admission prices vary seasonally, with children’s tickets for $12 and adult tickets generally between $22-$32. Stairs and elevators provide access to the bridge, which spans 228 feet across a deep chasm at 5,280 feet elevation. Sweeping mountain views – and plenty of adrenaline – can be found at this famous spot.
Location: 2050 Blowing Rock Highway, Linville
Iris Seaton is the trending news reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at iseaton@citizentimes.com.
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