Wildfires forced a mandatory evacuation Sunday in a North Carolina county still recovering from Hurricane Helene, and South Carolina’s governor declared an emergency in response to a growing wildfire in that state. Hundreds of miles north, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service was battling a blaze in the Wharton State Forest.

The North Carolina Department of Public Safety announced a mandatory evacuation for western North Carolina about 80 miles west of Charlotte.

“Visibility in area will be reduced and roads/evacuation routes can become blocked; if you do not leave now, you could be trapped, injured, or killed,” the agency said in a social media post.

In South Carolina, Gov. Henry McMaster declared a state of emergency Saturday as emergency crews in Pickens County fought the Table Rock Fire in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

“The State of Emergency allows us to mobilize resources quickly and ensure our firefighters have the support they need,” McMaster said in a statement that reinforced a statewide outdoor burning ban issued Friday.

— The Associated Press