NC has had 112 active wildfires this month. Use this interactive map to track them

Dry, windy conditions across North Carolina have made for a busy — and still dangerous —– spring wildfire season. Depending on where you live and which way the wind is blowing, you may have caught whiffs of smoke or seen the haze from active fires across the state.

How can I see where wildfires are burning in North Carolina?

The N.C. Forest Service has an interactive map showing wildfires across the state, with the size of the area involved and how far along firefighters are in efforts to extinguish it.

As of Monday afternoon, March 24, the map showed 112 fires across the state on more than 3,484 acres.

A status is given for each fire on the map, signified by a colored dot. Philip Jackson, spokesman for the N.C. Forest Service, gave these definitions for the status of each fire:

▪ Green means a fire has been reported.

▪ Dark gray means the fire has been controlled, so it’s still burning but is no longer spreading.

▪ Brown means the fire is contained, usually expressed by a percentage. “If a fire has been 50% contained, half the fire is cold and black and we’re confident we can walk away from it without it re-igniting,” Jackson said.

▪ Red is active, meaning the fire could still be spreading.

Where are the biggest wildfires in the state?

As of Monday, the largest fires are a trio in Polk County, west of Charlotte, burning across a total of more than 2,500 acres so far.

North Carolina has a statewide burn ban in place

The N.C. Forest Service issued a statewide ban on all outdoor open burning and canceled all burning permits starting Friday, March 21. The ban remains in place as of Monday.

Across the state, Jackson said, human activity causes 99% of wildfires, and nearly half the fires caused by humans happen when someone is burning debris on their property and the fire escapes.

Jackson said this is the first statewide ban in North Carolina since November 2021.

Forestry officials only implement a statewide ban when serious risk factors converge, he said. They take into account recent weather conditions along with the long-term forecast, such as the drought much of the state has seen since last fall; the availability of fuel for wildfires, such as the millions of downed trees in the mountains since the remnants of Hurricane Helene came through in September; and the availability of firefighting resources, which is reduced when several large fires are burning at the same time.

Under the ban, prescribed fires are prohibited as well as backyard burning.

North Carolina has 18 million acres of forest land, 13.8 million acres of it held by private landowners, the state forest service says.

Can I have a campfire or use the grill during the burn ban?

Campfires would be considered open burning and are not exempt from the ban.

Portable gas stoves and grills are allowable alternatives.

This story was originally published March 24, 2025 at 3:26 PM with the headline "NC has had 112 active wildfires this month. Use this interactive map to track them."