Source: Corey Davis, NC CLIMATE OFFICE, 11/30/21


Amid our worst fall fire season in five years, two wildfires in the past month have stood out from their elevated perches atop the Piedmont’s highest peaks.

On November 9-14, a wildfire burned 40 acres on Sauratown Mountain in Stokes County, and an even larger blaze started last Saturday on Pilot Mountain in Surry County. Called the Grindstone Fire because of its source near the Grindstone Trail, it has burned more than 500 acres at Pilot Mountain State Park and could eventually cover more than 900 acres, according to the NC Forest Service.

These two fires are symptomatic of a recent lack of rainfall and expanding drought, which currently covers almost half of North Carolina. However, other local and seasonal environmental factors have also spurred on these particular fires in the same part of the state.

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