Audio by Sophia Ramirez, Photos by Isabel Stellato

 

Some Chapel Hill residents were left confused and concerned when a cloud of smoke descended on the town last Wednesday. The source of the haze was a controlled burn in Chatham County, a representative from Chapel Hill Fire Department confirmed in an email. It’s part of a larger effort to contain wildfires and manage vegetation.

In November, there was a wildfire in Pilot mountain, North Carolina, on the town’s namesake peak. Carla Williams, a ranger at Pilot Mountain State Park, went out to see the regrowth on the mountain, four months after the fire.

“So, here we have some small raspberries coming up right after the fire. They normally wouldn’t be growing right here, but due to the fire burning through here, it’s allowed more sunlight to hit here on the ground,” said Williams. “It’s gotten rid of some of their competitors around here… so we have some brand new growth coming up already.

According to Williams, with only 5% tree loss, most thousand-acre fires do a lot more damage.

“You’re gonna hear me say, ‘we got crispy,’” said Williams. “We didn’t get burnt, we just got crispy.”

Crediting a prescribed fire conducted back in 2019, a controlled burn, Williams and “burn bosses” – state employees who execute a planned fire set under controlled conditions, evaluate reasons for a burn, taking into consideration plants and animals who depend on fires to survive or reproduce, potential invasive species targets, and reduction of future wildfires in severity – such as the wildfire on Pilot Mountain last year.

“[The controlled burn] significantly lowered the intensity of this fire… When you start a controlled burn area you can see, especially if it has large layers of leaves piled up, it takes weeks for those to quit burning,” said Williams. “Versus here… we were able to get that layer burnt down quicker due to that previous burn.

Controlled burns are becoming an increasingly important tool, as the effect of climate change lead to more catastrophic wildfires.

“It’s likely that the intensity is going to continue to increase,” said Phillip Jackson, public information officer for the North Carolina Forest Service. “Dramatic swings in wet and dry weather patterns are resulting in more intense fires. It’s resulting in more acres burning, and it’s resulting in more resources being needed to contain wildfires.”

According to Jackson, human activity is the leading cause of wildfires. The Pilot Mountain wildfire was begun by careless debris burning by park guests. There’s no blanket ban on burning, so when conditions are favorable for wildfire, park rangers just ask folks to postpone open burning – even the burn bosses.

“When you have the dry, windy conditions with relatively high humidity… we’re telling people don’t burn,” said Jackson. “We’re not going to go out there and burn either. So a decrease in prescribed burning would also be a result.”

The North Carolina Forest Service reports North Carolina as having more wildland-urban interface acres than any other state in the country, where structures and other human development is intertwined with undeveloped wildland and forest. It’s not always easy to convince folks living there that prescribed fire is a good thing.

“I mean, we spent 60-70 years telling people that fire was bad and then all of a sudden we’re kind of changing our direction of, well, fire is actually good for the management of the landscape,” said Thomas Crate, fire management officer for North Carolina State Parks. “What folks used to do is …  light up at the top and let it burn down. So one of the issues… in 2012 is instead of just… following the landscape and do it’s thing, the park system tried to just used the trails and roads out there. And it’s difficult to contain it.

In 2012, a prescribed fire on Pilot Mountain did get out of control, and some residents raise complaints about air quality or the smell of smoke. According to Tyler Chilton, a journalist, he could see the most recent fire from his grandmother’s house in November.

“It’s just devastating to see one of the natural landmarks of what makes this town is just burning and… I don’t think anyone wants to admit it’s going to be part of our new ecosystem here,” said Chilton.

Back on Pilot Mountain, Ranger Williams went up to the lookout point. The bare ground, newly bereft of leaves, looked almost eerie without the expected ground cover. Some trees were scorched, but most were intact.

“I understand the… despair to see it on fire. Because nobody wants to see anything on fire,” said Williams. “But if we can do it where our ecosystem can be a lot healthier… well that’s just communicating that with the public.”

Stories from the UNC Media Hub are written by senior students from various concentrations in the Hussman School of Journalism and Media working together to find, produce and market unique stories — all designed to capture multiple angles and perspectives from across North Carolina.

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