The 5,300-acre Silver Mine Fire was 90 percent contained as firefighters continued their efforts to suppress the fire Thursday.
“This growth was expected and was part of the burnout process,” spokesman Bruce MacDonald with the Forest Service said. “The final acreage will probably be around 6,000 acres.”
Firefighters have been on the scene since April 21 when the wildfire was reported in Madison County about 1 mile east of Hot Springs in the Pisgah National Forest. The fire quickly grew to 2,500 April 22 before about half an inch of rain fell. The rain helped some fire suppression efforts, but over the weekend officials were unable to fully extinguish flames.
Burnout operations began Monday as firefighters began to set controlled fires to help consume the woodland fuel. Those operations concluded Wednesday as containment increased to 60 percent. Ground crews were using drip torches to hand-ignite areas near the lines, and helicopters were also used to ignite interior areas.
Smoke settled on Hot Springs Tuesday and Wednesday, and came into Buncombe County, but about three-quarters of an inch of rain fell Wednesday causing the smoke to no longer be an issue by Thursday.
“The rain really cut down on the smoke that was being produced,” MacDonald said. “As it begins to dry, some of those areas could rekindle, but it won’t be in the volume that we’ve seen at this point.”