Three major wildfires that broke out in one North Carolina county still recovering from Hurricane Helene have exploded to burn more than 3,000 acres combined as South Carolina’s governor declared an emergency in response to a growing wildfire in the Blue Ridge mountains.

The North Carolina department of public safety announced a mandatory evacuation starting at 8.20pm on Saturday for parts of Polk county in western North Carolina about 80 miles (129km) west of Charlotte.

“Visibility in area will be reduced and roads/evacuation routes can become blocked; if you do not leave now, you could be trapped, injured, or killed,” the agency said in a social media post.

The public safety department said a shelter had been established in Columbus, North Carolina.

The two biggest wildfires in Polk county – the Black Cove fire, which has burned 2,076 acres, and the Deep Woods fire, which had burned 1,700 acres – were at zero containment, said Kellie Cannon, spokesperson for Polk county government. The Fish Hook fire, which scorched 1,713 acres, was 50% contained.

All are burning about 30 miles south-east of Ashville, according to the North Carolina forest service, in an area where Hurricane Helene swept through in September. The downed trees leftover from the hurricane, as well as low humidity and dry vegetation, are helping to fuel the fires which ignited last week, officials said.

“It’s not just the high winds, the low humidity, the steep terrain, but they’re also dealing with storm debris that’s blocking UTV trails, regular roads, and them just getting in on foot because we have so many trees down,” Cannon told CBS affiliate WSPA.

Dense smoke from the wildfires spurred a “code red” air quality alert for Polk county. The North Carolina forest service warned in a social media post that all residents should avoid prolonged exposure or heavy exertion outdoors.

Cannon said the residents of Polk county are “extremely resilient” after enduring Helene and the last round of wildfires earlier this month.

North Carolina was under a statewide burn ban during the critical fire weather. The state’s forest service reminded residents that the ban is remaining in place until further notice.

The threat of wildfires was felt in neighboring South Carolina where Governor Henry McMaster declared a state of emergency on Saturday as part of an effort to stop a blaze in Pickens county called the Table Rock fire that started on Friday night and quickly spread to 35 acres, McMaster said.

By Sunday, the South Carolina forestry commission was reporting that the fire had grown to 300 acres and was 0% contained.

“As this wildfire continues to spread, the State of Emergency allows us to mobilize resources quickly and ensure our firefighters have the support they need to protect lives and property,” McMaster said in a statement that reinforced a statewide outdoor burning ban issued on Friday by the South Carolina forestry commission.

Local fire officials called for voluntary evacuations Saturday of some residents near Table Rock Mountain, the forestry commission said in a social media post.

The Pickens county sheriff’s office posted an update on Sunday saying that agencies are continuing to work to contain the fire, aided by a successful back burn process. Assistance from helicopters and air tankers would continue until sundown. Residents were advised that evacuations remained in effect and that Table Rock state park was closed until further notice.

The New Jersey forest fire service, meanwhile, has been battling a wildfire that broke out in the Wharton state forest on Saturday. The fire had consumed about 2.7 sq miles (7 sq km) as of early Sunday morning. Firefighters had contained about half of the blaze according to an 8am update on the service’s Facebook page.

Emergency officials said they have evacuated two campgrounds in the park. Eighteen buildings were near the fire but the flames were moving away from them and no structures had been evacuated.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Wildfires that broke out in one North Carolina county have exploded in size, prompting mandatory evacuations as emergency crews fought separate fires in an area still recovering from Hurricane Helene. Meanwhile, in South Carolina, the governor declared an emergency in response to a growing blaze in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

The North Carolina Department of Public Safety announced a mandatory evacuation on Saturday for parts of Polk County in western North Carolina, about 80 miles west of Charlotte.

“Visibility in area will be reduced and roads/evacuation routes can become blocked; if you do not leave now, you could be trapped, injured, or killed,” the agency said in a social media post.

It is the second time in less than a month that Polk County residents have faced evacuations due to wildfires. It also comes nearly six months after Hurricane Helena devasted the area.

The North Carolina Forest Service’s online wildfire public viewer indicated three active fires in Polk County, with the two largest spanning between 1.7 square miles to 1.9 square miles. Two other fires were active in nearby Burke and Madison counties, with a third wildfire burning in Stokes County on the northern border with Virginia.

“It’s not just the high winds, the low humidity, the steep terrain, but they’re also dealing with storm debris that’s blocking UTV trails, regular roads, and them just getting in on foot because we have so many trees down,” Kellie Cannon, a spokesperson for Polk County, told CBS affiliate WSPA.

Cannon said the residents of Polk County are “extremely resilient” after enduring Helene and the last round of wildfires earlier this month.

North Carolina’s western region already had been hit hard by Hurricane Helene in September. The hurricane damaged or impacted 5,000 miles of state-maintained roads and damaged 7,000 private roads, bridges and culverts.

Emergency declared South Carolina

In South Carolina, Gov. Henry McMaster declared a state of emergency Saturday as part of an effort to stop a blaze in Pickens County called the Table Rock Fire that started the previous day in an area within the Blue Ridge Mountains.

“As this wildfire continues to spread, the State of Emergency allows us to mobilize resources quickly and ensure our firefighters have the support they need to protect lives and property,” McMaster said in a statement that reinforced a statewide outdoor burning ban issued Friday by the South Carolina Forestry Commission.

Local fire officials called for voluntary evacuations Saturday of some residents near Table Rock Mountain, the forestry commission said in a social media post.

In a video on Facebook, Pickens County Sheriff Tommy Blankenship said the fire was started by the “negligent act” of a group of teenage hikers

The Pickens County Sheriff’s Office posted an update late Saturday saying crews had ceased operations and would resume Sunday morning with ground personnel and machinery and assistance from helicopters and air tankers.

“It’s very steep terrain. There is a lot of what we call downed timber, blown debris, that has fallen because of Hurricane Helene,” South Carolina Forestry Commission Information Officer, Brad Bramlett told WSPA. “That just makes the conditions that much more difficult.”

The fire was about 110 acres and the public was asked to avoid state Highway 11.

A North Carolina mother and son can sue a public school system and a doctors’ group on allegations they gave the boy a COVID-19 vaccine without consent, the state Supreme Court ruled on Friday, reversing a lower-court decision that declared a federal health emergency law blocked the litigation.

A trial judge and later the state Court of Appeals had ruled against Emily Happel and her son Tanner Smith, who at age 14 received the vaccination in August 2021 despite his protests at a testing and vaccination clinic at a Guilford County high school, according to the family’s lawsuit.

Smith went to the clinic to be tested for COVID-19 after a cluster of cases occurred among his school’s football team.

He did not expect the clinic would be providing vaccines as well, according to the litigation. Smith told workers he didn’t want a vaccination, and he lacked a signed parental consent form to get one.

When the clinic was unable to reach his mother, a worker instructed another to “give it to him anyway,” Happel and Smith allege in legal briefs.

Happel and Smith sued the Guilford County Board of Education and an organization of physicians who helped operate the school clinic, alleging claims of battery and that their constitutional rights were violated.

A panel of the intermediate-level appeals court last year ruled unanimously that the federal Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act shielded the school district and the Old North State Medical Society from liability.

The law places broad protections and immunity on an array of individuals and organizations who perform “countermeasures” during a public health emergency.

A COVID-19 emergency declaration in March 2020 activated the law’s immunity provisions, Friday’s decision said.

Chief Justice Paul Newby, writing Friday’s prevailing opinion, said that the federal law did not prevent the mother and son from suing on allegations that their rights in the state constitution had been violated.

In particular, he wrote, there is the right for a parent to control their child’s upbringing and the “right of a competent person to refuse forced, nonmandatory medical treatment.”

The federal law’s plain text led a majority of justices to conclude that its immunity only covers tort injuries, Newby wrote, which is when someone seeks damages for injuries caused by negligent or wrongful actions.

“Because tort injuries are not constitutional violations, the PREP Act does not bar plaintiffs’ constitutional claims,” he added while sending the case back presumably for a trial on the allegations.

The court’s five Republican justices backed Newby’s opinion, including two who wrote a short separate opinion suggesting the immunity found in the federal law should be narrowed further.

Associate Justice Allison Riggs, writing a dissenting opinion backed by the other Democratic justice on the court, said that state constitutional claims should be preempted from the federal law.

Riggs criticized the majority for “fundamentally unsound” constitutional analyses.

“Through a series of dizzying inversions, it explicitly rewrites an unambiguous statute to exclude state constitutional claims from the broad and inclusive immunity,” Riggs said.