The wildfires that have spanned across the South were, and continue to be, fought by federal, state, local, tribal and volunteer agencies.
The incident management teams and firefighters that have been working in North Carolina are beginning to ramp down fire operations and reduce their numbers, in part because of wet weather and reduced fire activity.
While it can appear that teams and firefighters are leaving en masse at a time when concern over drought and fire conditions is not over, they only leave when there is another smaller group available to take over, or the local landowners feel able to take back and manage the fire themselves. On several large fires, containment has been reached, and the team has returned oversight to the land management agency.
Many fire personnel and resources are reassigned to more active fires that need the help while others are sent home. In the last day, many people and much equipment was moved very quickly to Gatlinburg, Tennessee to aid in that effort.