Officials say heavy smoke across Habersham County and surrounding areas is the result of a fire in North Carolina. The City of Clarkesville issued a Nixle alert after people began expressing concern about the smoke that rolled in early Sunday afternoon.
Habersham County issued a similar alert stating:
“We have heavy smoke in the whole Habersham county area as well as surrounding counties. Smoke is coming from an uncontrolled wild fire in North Carolina. Report only if you see flames and have a location of a fire.”
Several hundred firefighters are battling multiple wildfires throughout Western North Carolina. The Knob fire nine miles southwest of Franklin grew to 284 acres Saturday, according to the U.S. Forest Service. The Boteler Fire near Murphy grew to 678 acres. Other wildfires have been reported in eastern Cherokee and throughout the Nantahala Forest.
The Forest Service has closed a portion of the Appalachian Trail and access to other scenic areas in the North Carolina mountains due to the fires.
In all, firefighters and forestry officials have battled more than a dozen wildfires in North Carolina in the past week. Some have been determined to be manmade. All have been worsened by the effects of the worsening drought.
Due to extremely dry conditions the U.S. Forest Service has cautioned residents and visitors of high fire danger across the mountains.
The National Weather Service says annual rainfall in Asheville and the western North Carolina region is now more than 9 inches below normal.
