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U.S. Forest Service News Release

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Southern Area Red Team

2025.RattlesnakeBranch@firenet.gov

(828) 519-8242

https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident-information/ncncf-rattlesnake-branch

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Rattlesnake Branch Fire Daily Update -- March 29, 2025

Note: Please drive cautiously on Road 276 and other roads around the fire. Please do not stop along the side of the road for your protection and the protection of firefighters and equipment.

CLYDE, N.C., March 29, 2025--The Rattlesnake Branch Fire is on private land and the Shining Rock Wilderness Area on Pisgah National Forest around the community of Cruso, approximately 11 miles southeast of Waynesville, North Carolina. It started on March 26, 2025, and quickly spread due to dry conditions and hardwood leaves and branches on the ground. The cause is under investigation. 

The fire is approximately 1,200 acres and 20-percent contained. More than 80 personnel are on the fire, with more firefighters and equipment on the way.

Yesterday’s Activities

Firefighters made good progress protecting homes in Cruso yesterday. They put in a fire containment line between the area where the fire started and Cold Creek, allowing them to burn around homes, igniting from the ground and from a helicopter to reduce burnable vegetation and secure homes. In the Crawford Creek area, the fire continued to flank uphill. Firefighters used tactical burning to keep the fire above homes in this area. They also provided structure protection as a precautionary measure to reduce their fire risk. The fire continued to burn throughout the night under the watch of night crews.

The Southern Area Red Complex Incident Management Team arrived to help the Pisgah National Forest manage the fire.

Today’s Activities

This morning, the Southern Area Red Team joined command of the Rattlesnake Branch Fire. Crews will continue to protect homes in Cruso and identify areas for putting in more bulldozer fire lines from Cold Creek to Burnett Cove to protect private property. They will do strategic firing operations from helicopter, backing the fire down to reduce the risk of it running uncontrolled upslope and potentially spotting into drainages to the west.

Firefighters will continue to keep the fire from burning downhill towards homes in the Crawford Creek area and will expand assessment of structures needing protection, working westward. They will put in a fire containment line and begin to improve road access for firefighting efforts.

Helicopters and fixed-wing “super scoopers” are available to help fight the fire.

Weather/Fire Behavior: Today will be mostly cloudy, moderating fire behavior. Temperature highs will be in the mid-60s with relative humidity in the mid-40s percent. Winds will be south/southwest 8-14 mph, gusting 20-28 mph.

Dead and down hardwood tree litter, rhododendron and laurel shrubs and conifer species such as white pine are the primary fuels burning in the Rattlesnake Branch Fire. With fire activity expected to be minimal today due to the weather, fire behavior analyst Gary Jarvis said to firefighters, “Today should be a good day to get out there and size things up - fire will be on your side today, not the extreme stuff we’ve seen in the past few days.”

Air quality information is available at Smoke Outlook for Western North Carolina and Upstate South Carolina, www.airnow.gov and www.wildlandfiresmoke.net. 

Closures and Restrictions: The Pisgah National Forest has issued an area closure of the Shining Rock Wilderness Area to protect the public from wildfire and firefighting operations. This closure includes all National Forest System land between US-276 and NC-215 north of the Blue Ridge Parkway (between mile markers 405 and 420). Please stay safe and keep out of these areas.

Following the statewide burn ban issued for North Carolina, the USDA Forest Service issued a fire restriction on open burning National Forest land, including building, maintaining or using campfires, open stove fires and fire rings, to mitigate wildfire risks. 

A temporary flight restriction is in effect in and around the fire area. This includes use of personal drones. If you fly, we cannot fly!

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