STOKES COUNTY, N.C. — It’s been a month since more than 800 acres caught fire on Sauratown Mountain, prompting evacuations there and in the surrounding area.

“Everything on the south side of Sauratown Mountain Road is where the bulk of the fire was that you see across the road on the north side,” N.C. Forest Service County Ranger Jonathan Young said.

During the Sauratown Mountain Fire in November, there was no burn ban in Stokes County, but western areas of the state had one.

“Conditions were pretty bad at that point," Young said. "So things were pretty dry, and it made controlling the fire difficult.” 

But when they saw the way the fire was going, they knew what to do, because it burned the same area as another fire in 2008.

“The 363-acre fire that we had in 2008, that entire area burned again in this area. So we did use some of those existing fire lines from 2008 to help us in controlling this fire,” Young said.

Young has been with the state Forest Service for 27 years. He says wildfires are more common than we think — there have been more than 4,800 in the state this year, according to the Forest Service.

“Historically in North Carolina, 2% of all wildfires are lightning-caused with 98% being human-caused in some way,” Young said.

He says the No. 1 cause of wildfires is careless debris burning. He shares these tips for safe burning:

• Check for a burn ban
• Don’t burn on dry or windy days
• Always keep your burn pile small

“The worst time of the day for our wildfires is typically early afternoon," Young said. "That's the time of the day when the temperatures are the warmest. Usually the humidity or the air is the driest, and usually the winds are the strongest.” 

The Forest Service is still investigating the cause of the Sauratown Mountain Fire, Young said.