Crews across North and South Carolina are conducting prescribed burns in state and national parks, targeting areas where Hurricane Helene left behind heavy debris. At Lake James State Park near Morganton, officials said the controlled fires help clear fallen trees, improve wildlife habitat and reduce the risk of larger wildfires.
They’ve worked very hard to get the trails and shoreline cleaned up but there is still a lot of damage from Helene.
Along the north side of Lake James, the smoke could be seen for miles.
Visitors arrived at the state park around lunchtime Thursday as crews worked to set a prescribed burn of more than 200 acres.
Stanley Avery has seen areas in the park hit hard by Helene.
“I think it’s pretty important, because we’ve been in some spots where there’s more dead trees that they need to have something done to them and you can’t get into them,” Avery said.
Andrew Slack, the burn boss for Thursday’s fire, took Channel 9’s Dave Faherty into the park where crews used drip torches to set fire to the woods. Slack is hoping the prescribed burn will improve wildlife habitat, restore the ecosystem, and reduce wildfire hazards from Helene.
“It’s been a year-and-a-half now and a lot of that material is starting to decompose and starting to dry out, so it is more available to burn,” said Slack, a burn coordinator for North Carolina Park Service.
Earlier this year, the N.C. Park Service burned an area along the lake where hundreds of trees came down during the storm. They took Faherty back where they could see the blackened forest floor. It was where the fire burned many of the fallen trees from Helene in an effort to reduce the potential for an even larger fire. The park superintendent said it’s taken a lot of work to get the park back.
Most of the trails are open at Lake James but there is still work to be done. The superintendent said it may be another five years before they feel fully recovered.
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