North Carolina doesn't see the sprawling wildfires that regularly scorch hundreds of thousands of acres out West. But when fires ignite here, a surprising number of homes and buildings can be in their path.
North Carolina has the second-highest number of buildings directly exposed to wildfire in the country, according to a new LendingTree analysis of U.S. Forest Service data.
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An estimated 3.7 million buildings, or 68.2% of all buildings in the state, are directly exposed. Only Texas has more. California has about 2.2 million, ranking ninth in buildings exposed.
“You wouldn't expect North Carolina to be a wildfire state...Traditionally, nationally, when we think of wildfire states, of course, we think of California and Western states.” Rob Bhatt, LendingTree home insurance expert
The distinction is important: North Carolina's fires tend to be much smaller than those in the West, but there are a lot of them.
The state recorded 4,668 wildfires in 2024, third-most in the country behind California and Texas, according to National Interagency Fire Center data analyzed by LendingTree. Those fires burned about 18,200 acres, compared with more than 1 million acres each in California, Texas and Oregon.
“Fires themselves aren't bad, but when you get into areas where people are living and homes are built, then suddenly you have the situation where there's a threat to human safety as well as a threat to human financial security,” Bhatt said.
More homes are meeting the woods
North Carolina's exposure has grown along with its development.
The number of housing units near wildfire-prone land grew 24% from 1990 to 2020, from about 1.28 million to 1.59 million. North Carolina ranked ninth nationally for that growth.
These areas are known as the wildland-urban interface, where development meets or mixes with forests and other vegetation.
Bhatt said the trend raises questions not only about where new homes are built, but how they are built.
“When you see these numbers, these are things that we need to account for,” he said, pointing to building standards that can make homes more likely to survive a wildfire.
Fall fire season approaches after summer drought
The new analysis comes as North Carolina heads into its fall wildfire season with conditions forecasters are watching closely.
Drought earlier this summer stressed trees and vegetation across the Carolinas and Mid-Atlantic, according to Paul Pastelok, AccuWeather's lead long-range expert. Later rainfall sparked new growth, which could become fuel if conditions dry out again.
“If we go into a drier, windier pattern into our fall season, we could be looking at another pickup in the fire season here to end 2026,” Pastelok said.
In western North Carolina, trees and other debris left behind by Hurricane Helene nearly two years ago can add to the available fuel.
It doesn't take a prolonged drought for conditions to deteriorate. Pastelok said shrubs, pine needles and other small fuels can dry out within a few days. Low humidity and winds of 15 to 20 mph can then help a fire spread quickly.
“Don't think that the late rain that came in is enough to get rid of any type of late-season fire season,” Pastelok said. “I do feel that we do have some risk going forward here this fall.”
AccuWeather expects that risk to continue at least through October. A strengthening El Niño is expected to eventually bring more sustained rainfall to the Southeast, but Pastelok said its influence may not arrive until after much of North Carolina's fall fire season.
For homeowners, Bhatt recommends clearing leaves, brush and other flammable material away from homes. Keeping roofs and gutters clear and using ember-resistant vents can also reduce the risk from flying embers.
