The Southeastern U.S. faces a future with more wildfires

Summary

Consider This from NPR: The Southeastern U.S. Faces a Future with More Wildfires

Release Date: March 27, 2025
Podcast: Consider This
Host: Scott Detrow
Topic: Increasing Wildfires in the Southeastern United States

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Introduction

In this episode of NPR's Consider This, host Scott Detrow explores the escalating issue of wildfires in the Southeastern United States, a region traditionally not associated with the frequent and severe wildfire activity seen in the West. The discussion delves into the contributing factors, current challenges, and potential strategies to mitigate future wildfire risks.

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Rising Wildfire Incidence in the Southeast

Scott Detrow opens the conversation by highlighting the surprising increase in wildfire incidents in the Southeast. He introduces Zach O'Donnell, the coordinator for the Southern Blue Ridge Prescribed Burn Association in western North Carolina, who confirms the trend:

“I've definitely responded to more fires each year. It seems like, I think that everyone who is in professional firefighting in this region has noticed an increase.”
— Zach O'Donnell [00:10]

O'Donnell notes unusual fire behavior this year, with flames reaching heights of 30 to 40 feet, which is rare for the region:

“I've seen fire flame lengths higher than I've ever seen this year as well, climbing through the rhododendron, 30, 40 foot flames, which for this region is pretty rare.”
— Zach O'Donnell [00:33]

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Contributing Factors: Climate Change and Population Growth

The episode identifies a combination of environmental and demographic factors exacerbating wildfire risks in the Southeast. Six months prior, Hurricane Helene severely impacted mountainous forested areas like Asheville, North Carolina, resulting in extensive tree damage and debris accumulation. This, coupled with a dry spring and high winds, has created ideal conditions for wildfires.

Jeremy Knighton, assistant fire chief in Asheville, underscores the compounded threats faced by the community:

“You know, the communities around us have suffered tremendous loss already, and now these fires on top of that. And we know we've lost structures, you know, in these surrounding counties, and we're just really on edge.”
— Jeremy Knighton [01:35]

Rob Scheller, a professor of landscape ecology at North Carolina State University, provides a detailed analysis of the situation:

“The fire risk is elevated and it is severe. We do need to be taking precautions... Hurricane Helene damaged over 800,000 acres of forest... once it gets dried out, this is fantastic fuel for fire.”
— Rob Scheller [03:23]

Scheller further explains how climate change intensifies these risks:

“Climate change has made the risk worse. Rising temperatures allow fuels to dry out faster... precipitation has become much more variable over time... flash droughts... increase fire risk.”
— Rob Scheller [05:11]

Additionally, population growth in the Southeast contributes significantly to the wildfire threat. Rapid expansion of the wildland-urban interface means more homes and lives are at stake, and increased human presence raises the chances of accidental fire ignitions.

“The expansion of the wildland urban interface is a huge factor... more people, more opportunities for fires to negatively impact... more people living near natural vegetation, having barbecues, maybe doing some burning of yard waste.”
— Rob Scheller [04:26]

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Challenges in Fire Management

The aftermath of Hurricane Helene presents substantial challenges for firefighting efforts. Zach O'Donnell describes the difficulty in combating fires under these conditions:

“Just the amount of debris down in the forest has made it extremely challenging to fight the fires in the traditional way... have to back up and really think large scale... take our time and make sure we're not putting our firefighters in harm's way.”
— Zach O'Donnell [01:23]

Jeremy Knighton emphasizes the strain on firefighting resources and the heightened state of alert within the community:

“We know we've lost structures... we're just really on edge.”
— Jeremy Knighton [01:35]

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Mitigation Strategies and Community Preparedness

Addressing the wildfire threat requires a multifaceted approach. Rob Scheller outlines several strategies to mitigate risks:

1. Fuel Reduction: Implementing salvage logging and prescribed burning to decrease available fuel for fires.
2. Vegetation Management: Homeowners should manage vegetation around their properties to create defensible spaces.
3. Fire-Resistant Construction: Encouraging the use of fireproof materials in building new homes.
4. Preparedness Planning: Developing evacuation routes and having essential items ready to avoid delays during emergencies.

“One ounce of preparedness is better than, you know, 100 pounds of cure in a lot of times... people also need to be reducing their own risk... eliminate any wooden fences... change the way they build new houses... have all those things ready to go in the case of a fire because those delays cause mortality.”
— Jeremy Knighton [02:10]
— Rob Scheller [06:04]

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Looking Ahead

The episode concludes with a sobering reminder of the ongoing and future challenges posed by wildfires in the Southeast. As both climate change and population growth continue unabated, the region must adopt comprehensive strategies to enhance resilience and protect communities.

Rob Scheller reinforces the urgency of proactive measures:

“We do need to be taking precautions... there are many sides to the risk story... people also need to be reducing their own risk.”
— Rob Scheller [06:04]

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Conclusion

NPR's Consider This effectively sheds light on the emerging wildfire crisis in the Southeastern United States, highlighting the intricate interplay of environmental changes and human expansion. Through expert insights and firsthand accounts, the podcast underscores the necessity of preparedness and collaborative efforts to mitigate the growing threat of wildfires in the region.

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Produced by: Erica Ryan
Audio Engineering: Josephine Nyonai and Tiffany Vera Castro
Edited by: Patrick Jaron Watanan
Executive Producer: Sammy Yenigun

For more information on safeguarding against wildfires and supporting public media, visit plus.npr.org/considerthis and protectmypublicmedia.org.

Transcript

[Scott Detrow]

If you mention wildfires, a lot of Americans will think of the western United States, areas like Southern California. But fire is becoming a bigger problem in the Southeast as well.

[Zach O'Donnell]

I've definitely responded to more fires each year. It seems like, I think that everyone who is in professional firefighting in this region has noticed an increase.

[Scott Detrow]

That's Zach O'Donnell. He's the coordinator for the Southern Blue Ridge Prescribed Burn association based in western North Carolina. And this week, the State Forest Service declared one of the fires burning there as the highest priority fire in the.

[Zach O'Donnell]

US I've seen fire flame lengths higher than I've ever seen this year as well, climbing through the rhododendron, 30, 40 foot flames, which for this region is pretty rare.

[Scott Detrow]

O'Donnell would rather not be helping fight active fires. Usually he's educating landowners about fire prevention and leading controlled burns to reduce the risk of bigger fires. And right now, risk is high. Six months ago, Hurricane Helene ravaged mountainous forested areas like in Asheville, North Carolina. All those downed trees combined with a dry spring and high winds, it creates dangerous wildfire conditions.

[Zach O'Donnell]

Just the amount of debris down in the forest has made it extremely challenging to fight the fires in the traditional way. We're having to back up and really think large scale on a lot of these and know our topography and take our time and make sure we're not putting our firefighters in harm's way.

[Scott Detrow]

Jeremy Knighton is assistant fire chief in Asheville. He explained there are multiple wildfires burning across thousands of acres in a region which again six months ago, saw those devastating floods.

[Jeremy Knighton]

You know, the communities around us have suffered tremendous loss already, and now these fires on top of that. And we know we've lost structures, you know, in these surrounding counties, and we're just really on edge.

[Scott Detrow]

A catastrophic hurricane, a dry spell and a windy spring helped create the current wildfire risk in the mountains of north and South Carolina. But studies show that climate change could increase the intensity of wildfires in southern Appalachia, and a growing population could increase the danger to humans. And people like Jeremy Knighton stressed that the region will need to be ready for that.

[Jeremy Knighton]

One ounce of preparedness is better than, you know, 100 pounds of cure in a lot of times. Really, that whole community approach, we're not going to be able to do this by ourselves.

[Scott Detrow]

Consider this. Wildfires are growing more common in southern Appalachia. How will the region adapt to the future? Coming up, we will hear the answer to that from a landscape ecologist and fire expert from npr. I'm Scott Detrow. This message comes From Carvana. Sell your car the convenient way, enter your license plate or vin, answer a few questions and get a real offer in seconds. Go to Carvana.com today it's Consider this from NPR. Wildfires are not new to the Carolinas, but the severity and frequency of those places that is concerning to experts. For the past 25 years, Rob Scheller has studied fires. He is a professor of landscape ecology at North Carolina State University. I asked him what is the best way to describe what's going on right now in the Southeast.

[Rob Scheller]

The fire risk is elevated and it is severe. We do need to be taking precautions. This is a combination, of course, of dry spring, which is not unusual for the area, but it is a dry spring in combination with elevated fuel loads over a wide area due to Hurricane Helene. Hurricane helene damaged over 800,000 acres of forest. And so just think about a lot of tree mortality, limbs falling and so on. And so that all lands on a forest floor. And once it gets dried out, this is fantastic fuel for fire.

[Scott Detrow]

Is it fair to say then that the massive population growth that you've seen throughout so much of the Southeast is a big factor here? I mean, I think one example, Greenville, South Carolina, this is one of the communities near one of these fires gain something like six new households every week between 2000 and 2020. This is just massive population growth in this region. How does that affect all of this?

[Rob Scheller]

Yeah, the expansion of the wildland urban interface is a huge factor when we think about fire risk. And it is expanding rapidly across the Southeast. And so more people, more opportunities for fires to negatively impact, of course, homes and lives. It's also more opportunities for people to accidentally start fires. And so that's more people living near natural vegetation, having barbecues, maybe doing some burning of yard waste and so on. So it's a two way risk, both two people and people starting fires as well.

[Scott Detrow]

What is the best way to frame it from your perspective on the question? I'm sure you've gotten a lot of has climate change made this risk worse?

[Rob Scheller]

Climate change has made the risk worse. And part of that is just rising temperatures by themselves will allow fuels to dry out faster. The other factor is what we're seeing in the Southeast is precipitation has become much more variable over time. And so last year is a great example where we had a really wet spring followed by a dry summer and then a wet early fall and then a really dry later fall. And so that means that you have these flash droughts sprinkled throughout the season which again allow fuels to dry out and increases fire risk.

[Scott Detrow]

So obviously temperatures are going up. That's not changing anytime soon. More people are moving to the Southeast. That doesn't seem to be changing anytime soon.

[Rob Scheller]

Correct.

[Scott Detrow]

What to you are the biggest steps that can be taken to try and mitigate these risks.

[Rob Scheller]

Again, there's many sides to the risk story. One thing you want to do is just reduce the risk of fire spreading, and that requires reducing the amount of fuels on the ground. That means getting out there and doing some salvage logging, maybe doing some prescribed burning. However, that's going to be difficult across over 800,000 acres of rough terrain. And so people also need to be reducing their own risk. And in that case, there's things you can do around vegetation management immediately around your house, making sure the vegetation is away from the house, making sure you don't have a wood pile near to or up against the house, trying to eliminate any wooden fences. People could also change the way they build new houses. So there's many more fireproof methods of building houses today. And lastly, people just need to be aware of the potential for fire and think about evacuation routes, what they need to grab right away. You don't want to be waiting till the last minute to figure out where the prize family photo album is or the deed to the house, et cetera. You should have all those things ready to go in the case of a fire because those delays cause mortality.

[Scott Detrow]

Yeah. That is Professor Rob Scheller of North Carolina State University. Thank you so much.

[Rob Scheller]

You're welcome. Thank you.

[Scott Detrow]

This episode was produced by Erica Ryan with audio engineering from Josephine Nyonai and Tiffany Vera Castro. It was edited by Patrick Jaron Watanan. Our executive producer is Sammy Yenigun. It's Consider this from npr, I'm Scott Detrow. I'm IRO Glass. On this American Life, we tell real life stories, really good ones.

[Rob Scheller]

My mother said, I'm sorry that you weren't here because Father Sager was here.

[Scott Detrow]

Visiting and he found a very nice orphanage for you.

[Ira Glass]

And I said, but I'm not an orphan, Ma.

[Scott Detrow]

Surprising stories in your podcast Feed this American Life.

[Ira Glass]

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