NC Forest Fires At 50,000 Acres; About 1,000 Evacuated So Far
LAKE LURE, N.C. (WNCN) — Flames moved into one area that was evacuated on Wednesday near Lake Lure as hundreds of firefighters continued to fight dozens of blazes in the North Carolina mountains. On Wednesday, as evacuations continued, the scorched acreage from all of the wildfires in North Carolina grew to 49,112 acres, according to officials.
The wildfire that has forced the most evacuations — more than 1,000 people — is the Party Rock Fire near Lake Lure in Rutherford County.
There hasn’t been a fire in the Lake Lure area in a long time, so the forest floor is thick with flammable material, and falling autumn leaves are encouraging the flames to spread, said Victoria Tillotson, a spokeswoman with the North Carolina Forest Service.
A total of 850 people were fighting the Party Rock blaze, which grew to more than 5,700 acres and was still just 19 percent contained, she said. New areas were evacuated in Henderson County on Wednesday because of the Party Rock Fire. By 7 p.m. Wednesday, flames were already in the area that was evacuated, according to CBS North Carolina’s Amy Cutler.
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http://wncn.com/2016/11/16/nc-wildfires-near-50000-acres-as-lake-lure-fire-spreads-to-evacuated-areas/