Jumping Branch Fire Grows to 420 Acres, 50% Contained in WNC

A Marion woman faced a misdemeanor charge for starting a wildfire that consumed 420 acres of steep McDowell County terrain, burning just one day after North Carolina prohibited all open burning across the state.

Hilary Brooke Inman, 38, admitted to North Carolina Forest Service investigators that she removed hot ash from a cigar she was smoking at the edge of a wooded bank behind a home on Locust Cove Road, near N.C. 80 in northern McDowell County. The ash spread to private and U.S. Forest Service lands, igniting the Jumping Branch Fire on Sunday, March 29. She was cited under North Carolina General Statute 14-138.1, a misdemeanor for starting a fire on grassland, brushland, or woodland without fully extinguishing it.

Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler had issued the statewide burn ban just the day before, on March 28, covering all 100 North Carolina counties. "Vegetative fuels will dry rapidly, and with the amount of fuel loading in the mountains and drought impacts statewide, a burn ban for all 100 counties is necessary to reduce the number of wildfires across our landscape," Troxler said when announcing the ban.

The fire moved fast. By Sunday evening it had reached approximately 175 acres with zero containment. By Monday morning, March 30, McDowell County Emergency Management reported it had grown to 185 acres at 20% containment. By Wednesday morning, April 1, it had expanded to 420 acres at 50% contained.

More than 170 crew members worked to control the blaze under a unified command involving the U.S. Forest Service, North Carolina Forest Service, McDowell County Emergency Management, Pleasant Gardens Fire and Rescue, and volunteer departments from McDowell and neighboring counties. Firefighters deployed hand-dug fire lines, chainsaws, heavy equipment, and water-spraying engines. Helicopters and water-scooping aircraft conducted coordinated drops on the fire, drawing water from Lake James and Lake Tahoma.

U.S. Forest Service Public Information Officer Allyson Pokrzywinski said "drought conditions, low humidity, and wind are complicating their containment efforts." The fire burned through steep terrain still loaded with fallen trees and debris left by Hurricane Helene in fall 2024, material that generated a longer, more intense burn and complicated crews' ability to mop up hot spots.

N.C. 80 was closed north of Toms Creek Road to the Yancey County line. One storage building was damaged; no injuries were reported.

The Jumping Branch Fire was part of a broader wildfire surge driven by the same drought and Helene debris conditions across Western North Carolina. The Poplar Fire in neighboring Mitchell County, which burned approximately 370 acres, reached 100% containment as of Wednesday. All 100 North Carolina counties remained under drought conditions, according to the North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council, and the statewide burn ban remained in effect, prohibiting open burning of any kind including leaves, yard debris, and campfires.