www.thecentersquare.com – By Alan Wooten | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-04-02 08:13:00
(The Center Square) – Burning permits became available and the ban from burning covering all 100 North Carolina counties was lifted Wednesday, the same day three teens were arrested in South Carolina related to the Table Rock fire near Pickens.
Conditions that fueled multiple wildfires in the Carolinas, in part from downed trees caused by Hurricane Helene six months ago, are significantly improved. North Carolina Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler said recent wildfire activity is a reminder “to remain vigilant about burning safely and responsibly.”
In South Carolina, arrests were made by Forestry Commission law enforcement officials of Nyzaire Jah-Neiz Marsh, 19, of Taylors; Tristan Tyler, 18, of Greenville; and Isaac Wilson, 18, of Greenville. The South Carolinians are charged with a single count each of “negligently allowing fire to spread to lands or property of another,” a release says.
A fourth suspect, a juvenile, is also charged with the same offense though he was not booked, the release said.
The Forestry Commission says it has evidence linking the trio to smoking and not extinguishing cigarettes in a proper and safe manner, leading to the Table Rock fire.
Five South Carolina counties – Oconee, Pickens, Greenville, Spartanburg and Horry – remain under an outdoor burning ban.
The Table Rock fire, the commission said, has gotten about 1.5 inches of rain over a two-day period this week. The size is 13,287 acres, with 635 of those in North Carolina. The fire started March 21 and is about 30% contained. The Persimmon Ridge fire, ignited March 22, is about 2,078 acres and 74% contained.
In North Carolina, containment has grown to 100% for the Fish Hook fire, 93% for the Black Cove fire, and 60% for the Deep Woods fire. The three are considered a complex under the name Black Cove, covering 7,670 acres (Deep Woods 3,969 acres, Black Cove 3,502, and Fish Hook 199).
While conditions have been helped by the rain, the North Carolina Forest Service said conditions are slick and slippery for firefighters.
SUMMARY: For the first time in over 200 years, South Carolina lawmakers are attempting to remove a statewide elected official, Republican Treasurer Curtis Loftis, due to a $1.8 billion accounting error and his failure to report it. Loftis argues that the removal effort is politically motivated, claiming it threatens his office’s integrity and financial oversight. A recent report revealed ongoing inaccuracies in the state’s accounts for over a decade, leading to concerns about Loftis’s management. A Senate subcommittee is conducting hearings on the matter, but support for Loftis’s removal appears limited in the House and among Republican leaders.
by Jane Winik Sartwell, Carolina Public Press April 2, 2025
Six months later and still out of a job. That’s the reality for nearly 13,000 Asheville residents half a year after Tropical Storm Helene struck Western North Carolina.
In the wake of the historic storm, hundreds of businesses closed. The region’s multibillion dollar tourism sector took a devastating hit. Thousands of people were severed from their jobs. Many have not returned to the workforce.
Asheville, a city of roughly 95,000 people, typically boasts the lowest unemployment rate of North Carolina’s municipalities.
As of January, the most recent figures available, Asheville had a 6% unemployment rate — the state’s highest — according to the N.C. Department of Commerce.
Clark Duncan, director of the Asheville Chamber of Commerce, calls the ranking a “new and unwelcome accolade.”
Help wanted in Asheville
Rocky Mount and Fayetteville, each hovering around 5% unemployment, are giving Asheville a run for its money.
The capital city of Raleigh is home to North Carolina’s lowest jobless rate at 3.2%.
And statewide, that number is a respectable 4%.
But Asheville’s high rate of unemployment doesn’t necessarily mean there aren’t jobs in the region, according to one expert.
“Buncombe County certainly does not have a jobs problem,” said Andrew Berger-Gross, a senior economist for the N.C. Department of Commerce. “What they have is an unemployment problem. We see employers hiring, but there is a large contingent of workers who have not returned to work.”
First, there is what economists call a “matching problem.” Meaning, the jobs that need to be filled do not match the skills and interests of the unemployed.
There are 20,000 job openings in the region, according to Nathan Ramsey, director of the Mountain Area Workforce Development Board. Sectors like health care and manufacturing are on track for normal hiring numbers. Plus, Helene actually created jobs in certain industries, such as construction and debris removal.
“You may be the best bartender in the world, the best server, the best cook — but does that mean you want to drive an 18-wheeler up mountain roads?,” Ramsey asked. “Does that mean you can do — or want to do — construction? Probably not.”
Second: Just because someone needs a job doesn’t mean they are ready or able to get one.
“It is safe to assume that a lot of those unemployed workers might be facing barriers to re-employment — like losing your home or losing your car,” Berger-Gross explained. “Frankly, some people might still be struggling with the emotional trauma of the hurricane’s destruction.
“A lot of these people may need help putting their lives back together before they are ready to return to the workforce.”
Though unemployment rates rose in Asheville and Buncombe County in winter months, the amount of open positions in the region is a positive sign for an economic rebound, as are increased retail sales and hotel occupancy.
But there are concerns that the state’s disaster unemployment program might not be working as it should.
“I get a lot of emails from folks who are kind of struggling with getting unemployment assistance,” state Sen. Julie Mayfield, D-Buncombe, told Carolina Public Press. “Either they’ve applied for it and they haven’t gotten it or they’ve been turned down because they’re back at work a little bit, but not full time.”
Mayfield is hopeful that tourists will arrive to watch wildflowers bloom across the Appalachians this spring.
But wildfires across Western North Carolina may jeopardize those plans.
Smoke signals
Closed trails and roads, mandatory evacuations and poor air quality have scared off springtime tourists and kept locals from their typical routines.
Adventure tourism businesses in the area aren’t operating, putting tour guides and other personnel out of work, said Brevard Mayor Maureen Copelof. Evacuation orders in her county were lifted early this week, but Brevard’s annual bike race — Assault on the Carolinas — was canceled due to the fires.
While most economic indicators in Western North Carolina have been trending positive, an additional natural disaster, such as these fires, threatens to stall recovery before the region can fully rebound.
There is an emotional impact of the wildfires as well. The din of helicopters above the mountains is a painful reminder of the panic and trauma of Helene. Plus, the downed trees and mangled forest floors from the storm make the blazes worse.
“Some people were really triggered by the fact that there was another threat to their home and their health on the six-month anniversary of Helene,” said Leah Matthews, a UNC-Asheville economics professor. “You have people thinking: ‘I’m just starting to rebuild this house and now I need to evacuate again.’”
In the wake of wildfire and flood, economic recovery in the mountains will require patience and a willingness to adapt. The community is wrestling with fundamental questions about its identity and future.
“The elephant in the room is that the region suffered a historic tragedy, and you can’t push rewind on the VCR of life,” Berger-Gross said. “You can’t go back to a time before the disaster hit — that is why it is a tragedy. All of us are trying to move to a better future for Asheville and for Western North Carolina more broadly. But will things be exactly like they were before the hurricane? No, they can’t be.”
SUMMARY: Three teenagers have been charged with negligently allowing a fire to spread in connection with the Table Rock Fire, which has burned nearly 14,000 acres in South Carolina. The individuals charged are Nyzaire Jah-Neiz Marsh (19), Tristan Tyler (18), and Isaac Wilson (18), all from the Greenville and Taylors area. The fire was discovered during a search for a missing hiker on March 21, prompting evacuations of seven hikers. Investigators allege the teens were smoking on a hiking trail and failed to extinguish their cigarettes properly. A juvenile involved faces similar charges but was released to parents.
