Wildfires forced a mandatory evacuation Sunday in a North Carolina county still recovering from Hurricane Helene, and South Carolina’s governor declared an emergency in response to a growing wildfire in that state. Hundreds of miles north, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service was battling a blaze in the Wharton State Forest.
The North Carolina Department of Public Safety announced a mandatory evacuation starting at 8:20 p.m. Saturday for parts of Polk County in western North Carolina about 80 miles (129 kilometers) 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.
A shelter had been established in Columbus, North Carolina.
There were three active fires in Polk County, with one spanning 1.9 square miles (5 square kilometers) and another spread over 2.8 square miles (7.3 square kilometers) with no containment by Sunday afternoon. County spokesperson Kellie Cannon said one home was lost to the larger of the two fires.