Why the Southeast has become more of a wildfire hotspot

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Due South

Why the Southeast has become more of a wildfire hotspot

By Jeff Tiberii,

Rachel McCarthy

Published April 2, 2025 at 12:00 PM EDT

Wildfires burned across parts of western North Carolina.

Six months after Helene鈥檚 flooding devastated parts of western North Carolina, wildfires have now added to the destruction. While control over the fires in the region has improved in recent days, the conditions that led to them are not going away.

Due South鈥檚 Jeff Tiberii talks with Robert Scheller, Professor of Landscape Ecology in the Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources at North Carolina State University, about why wildfires are becoming more common in our state and the Southeast 鈥� and what the future might hold.

Guest

Robert Scheller, Associate Dean for Research in the College of Natural Resources and Professor of Landscape Ecology in the Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, North Carolina State University

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Due South Wildfire

Jeff Tiberii

Jeff Tiberii is the co-host of 吉彩网网站's "Due South." Jeff joined 吉彩网网站 in 2011. During his 20 years in public radio, he was Morning Edition Host at WFDD and 吉彩网网站鈥檚 Greensboro Bureau Chief and later, the Capitol Bureau Chief. Jeff has covered state and federal politics, produced the radio documentary 鈥淩ight Turn,鈥� launched a podcast, and was named North Carolina Radio Reporter of the Year four times.

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Rachel McCarthy

Rachel McCarthy is a producer for "Due South." She previously worked at 吉彩网网站 as a producer for "The Story with Dick Gordon." More recently, Rachel was podcast managing editor at Capitol Broadcasting Company where she developed narrative series and edited a daily podcast. She also worked at "The Double Shift" podcast as supervising producer. Rachel learned about audio storytelling at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies. Prior to working in audio journalism, she was a research assistant at the Aspen Institute in Washington, DC.

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