GREENSBORO, N.C. — Dry leaves, low humidity, and windy conditions are creating the perfect environment for fires across North Carolina. State and local fire officials are urging residents to be cautious when lighting outdoor fires, using grills, or discarding cigarettes.
Philip Jackson with the North Carolina Forest Service explained the fall wildfire season runs from early October to mid-December. He said the dry leaves and pine straw that accumulates each fall act as fuel for potential wildfires.
“The leaves change this time every year when they’re done changing, they fall on the ground and so each October, November, we have a fresh fuel source at the forest floor in the form of leaf litter, which really any ignition source that gets, in those dry leaves or dry pine straw, it has the potential to uh become a rather large catastrophic wildfire,” he explained…