Montreat Minute – March 28, 2025

Fire Danger Extremely High: Burn Ban Still in Effect

The N.C. Forest Service ban on all open burning statewide is still in effect. Low humidity, lack of rain, strong gusty winds, and significant ground debris from Hurricane Helene have created an extremely high risk for wildfires, as seen to the south and west of us. There is one wildfire reported in Buncombe County west of Leicester.

The ban applies to all open burning, including yard waste, debris, and land-clearing burns. However, everyone is advised to use extreme caution and avoid if possible the use of all open flames, including fire pits, barbecue grills, cooking fires, warming fires, chimenea, and outdoor stoves. Fireplaces without chimney spark guards should also be used with extreme caution.

There is currently an abundance of fire fuel on the ground as a result of the hurricane, creating ideal conditions for uncontrolled wildfires. Be sure to clean debris, including downed trees, limbs, leaves and other fuel from your own property to provide a defensive barrier for your home.

Please be careful.

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Are You Signed Up for Code Red Messages?

Code Red is an emergency communications system used by Montreat to warn residents of emergency situations such as floods and wildfires. The system was used a number of times during the hurricane to warn of rising flood waters and to call for evacuations. To learn more about Montreat’s Code Red and to be added to the list, CLICK HERE.

There is also a separate Code Red system for Buncombe County. Not to be confused with the Montreat system, Buncombe County Code Red provides emergency information about situations county wide, not specific to Montreat. If you would like to stay informed of Buncombe County emergency alerts, sign up for Buncombe County Code Red HERE.

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Need Help Removing Debris from Hurricane Helene?

Current wildfire in west Buncombe County

Firewise and the Montreat Tree Board are joining forces to help remove fuel for wildfire! Debris on the ground is a major cause of spreading wildfires.

If you need help clearing debris from your property, contact Tree Board Chair, Ed Kramer, at 412-848-2262. Thanks for everything you can do to prevent the spread of wildfire and protect your property

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Did You Know?

Food is always a great complement to a social gathering, and often it generates that gathering. Today the Huckleberry, the snack bar in the Moore Center adjacent to Lake Susan, provides that opportunity. But before the Huckleberry, before the Moore Center, there was the old drug store. Located with the post office, telephone exchange, and grocery store on Assembly Drive, directly across from the current post office, it remained open well into the evenings during the summer. Teen-agers took their Cokes and ice cream out to the rustic, much-beloved lean-to.

Adults came, too, following the evening conference session. Jane Holt, who moved to Montreat with her mother in 1945, soon got a job working in the drug store. She was usually the only employee in the evening, and remembers being inundated with “adults who were pillars of their churches – and who were in no mood to wait in line for me to dip out Biltmore ice cream, add milk and chocolate syrup and put the concoction in the milk shake machine, all while I cut cheese, inserted it between buttered bread, and put it in the grill – a kind of giant waffle iron whose top was so heavy it settled slowly down on two pieces of bread and cheese just like an overweight person on a soft mattress.”  She heard many mumbled comments about the flat cheese sandwiches and the long wait for service, punctuated by grumbling “about how bad feet hurt in spectator pump shoes when one had to stand in line after the very long walk from the auditorium. It’s a wonder she didn’t also hear comments about the “unruly” teens who had taken over the only seating.

Thanks to the Presbyterian Heritage Center, especially Nancy Midgette, for this glimpse from the past. Stop by the PHC for even more Montreat history and so much more.

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Updates and Reminders

• The Montreat Landcare Committee will meet on Wednesday, April 2, at 9:00am in the Town Hall Community Room. The meeting will be live streamed. CLICK HERE for streaming instructions. All are invited to attend.
• Do you receive your own copy of the Montreat Minute or know someone who doesn’t? Sign up for the Sunshine List to receive the Montreat Minute and stay “in the know” about the Town’s happenings. CLICK HERE to sign up for the list!
• Do you receive Montreat Code Red alerts, an emergency communications system used a number of times during the hurricane? To learn more about Code Red and to be added to the list, CLICK HERE.

Questions or Comments?

Do you have Town-related questions or comments to offer? If so, please send them to Angie Murphy at [email protected] and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

Have a great weekend!