We’re under a total burn ban. Please don’t burn anything outdoors!
There are something like 11 forest fires in North Carolina, and the smoke from one or two of them started backing into the Mineral Bluff area yesterday. Blairsville was smoky throughout, and the smoke has even reached the Doublehead Gap/Newport Road area in Fannin County. I haven’t been to Ellijay lately, but I’m told it’s very smoky, which makes sense, given its proximity to the western edge of the Cohutta fire, which is the edge that’s now active.
The fire in the Cohutta Wilderness has now exceeded 10,000 acres, or about a third of the total wilderness area. With the very dry conditions and another cold front expected tonight with fairly high winds, there really isn’t very much that they can do, except try to contain it. Even that may be becoming increasingly difficult. There’s no significant rain in the forecast, as far out as you look.
Here’s the link to the Cohutta fire, which will update periodically.
http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/5078/
And here’s the link to the overall site, with all the North Carolina fires.