Home Care In Mills River, NC

A fire at a Mills River mulch yard continues to burn after more than two weeks as the fire department says the only practical response is to let it run its course.

“Conditions continue to improve,” and there’s significantly less smoke and flame since the fire started, Mills River Fire Chief Scott Burnette told the Times-News Oct. 20.

The plan is to let it burn until it runs out of fuel.

“It may only be a couple more days until it’s completely extinguished but it’s very hard to predict,” he said.

A 30-foot-deep mound of wood chips at Riverside Stump Dump, at the intersection of NC 191 and NC 280, caught fire Oct. 4, likely from spontaneous combustion, the Times-News previously reported.

The fire was contained a day or two later, but because of the size of the pile and how deep inside of it the fire was burning, it wasn’t feasible to put it out with water, Burnette told the Times-News Oct. 6.

Riverside Stump Dump workers have been on site to monitor the fire 24 hours a day, Shawn Ray, whose family owns the business, told the Times-News Oct. 20

They’ve also been using bulldozers and excavators to rearrange the pile.

Spreading it out to create more surface area with the air makes the fire burn down faster, Burnette said, while mounding dwindling piles together makes them burn hotter and cleaner, Ray said.

“You add water to it, you’re just creating steam more than anything,” Ray said.

Spontaneous combustion, caused by heat generated from decomposition, is “an inherent hazard of a mulch pile,” Burnette said.

“The volume of debris from the hurricane has required all the mulch operations to increase their volume significantly,” he said.

Multiple county-run debris sites have caught fire from spontaneous combustion since Tropical Storm Helene, County Engineer Marcus Jones told the Times-News in May.

Smoke from the Mills River fire may still pose a health risk to people nearby, especially those with respiratory illness, but the area affected is now much smaller than before, Burnette said.

“It’s in the decay phase of the fire’s cycle … when that fuel is almost completely broken down into carbon ash,” he said.

George Fabe Russell is the Henderson County Reporter for the Hendersonville Times-News. Tips, questions, comments? Email him at [email protected].

MILLS RIVER, N.C. (828newsNOW) — MANNA FoodBank has relocated to a facility in Mills River, a move accelerated by the devastation Tropical Storm Helene caused at its former location along the Swannanoa River.

The organization had been in the process of purchasing the Mills River property before the storm hit. When floodwaters damaged the old warehouse, MANNA quickly secured an emergency lease on the new space, which was already vacant, allowing operations to continue without interruption.

“We’re building the plane while we’re flying it,” Chief Operating Officer Liz Hipps said, describing the ongoing construction and upgrades at the new warehouse.

The former FedEx distribution center is being transformed to meet the food bank’s operational and safety needs. Plans include:

Chief Development Officer Joe Beckler highlighted the organization’s logistical system, which allows agencies across MANNA’s 16-county service area to order culturally appropriate food items through an online platform, similar to an Amazon-style shopping experience. Drivers then deliver food to pantries, schools and community partners.

The new warehouse will also accommodate large-scale distribution efforts. On a recent day, MANNA distributed 97,000 pounds of food, including perishables, turkeys and dry goods, through five delivery trucks and multiple agency pickups.

The expansion comes amid rising demand, with the food bank serving roughly 195,000 visits per month, up from about 65,000 before the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We’re seeing increased need because of economic pressures and the potential impacts of government shutdowns on SNAP and Medicaid,” Hipps said.

Construction at the Mills River site is expected to continue into early 2026, with office staff temporarily working remotely and operations gradually shifting to the upgraded areas of the building. MANNA officials emphasized that the new facility will allow the organization to scale up food distribution, improve volunteer operations and better serve vulnerable populations across Western North Carolina.

“Our mission is to ensure no neighbor goes hungry,” Hipps said. “This new space gives us the capacity to do that more safely and efficiently than ever before.”

Click here to learn more about MANNA FoodBank.

Urgent and primary care services at UNC Health Pardee in Mills River Plaza, on Boylston Highway, will be relocated indefinitely to avoid smoke from a debris fire just blocks away.

This is “out of an abundance of caution for its patients and teammates,” UNC Health Pardee said in an Oct. 22 news release.

UNC Health Pardee spokesperson Amy Holcombe confirmed to the Times-News Oct. 22 that the mulch fire at Riverside Stump Dump was the source of smoke that the office at 3334 Boylston Highway closed to avoid.

There’s no timeline yet to reopen the Mills River location since it’s unclear how much longer the fire will burn.

“They’re just monitoring the situation at this point,” Holcombe said.

Pardee Urgent Care will operate out of the Mission Pardee Health Campus at 2695 Hendersonville Road in Arden, the release says.

Pardee BlueMD patients will be seen at Pardee BlueMD at 1027 Fleming St. in Hendersonville.

The fire at Riverside, at the intersection of NC 191 and NC 280, has been burning for more than two weeks, since Oct. 4, the Times-News previously reported.

It likely started by spontaneous combustion inside a 30-foot mound of wood chips, much of it made up of debris from Tropical Storm Helene.

Because of the size of the pile and the depth of the fire, there’s no feasible way to put it out, and the fire will have to burn until it runs out of fuel on its own, Mills River Fire and Rescue Chief Scott Burnette told the Times-News Oct. 6.

“Fortunately, (the smoke is) all from natural vegetation, which is the least harmful type of smoke. The fires that involve plastics and petroleum products are much more hazardous. That being said, it’s important for folks who have any type of respiratory medical condition to avoid the area,” he said.

He can’t predict with certainty how much longer the fire will burn, though “conditions continue to improve” and the fire is producing less smoke, he said Oct. 20.

Workers at the mulch yard have been keeping a 24-hour watch on the fire, in case it starts burning out of control again, and rearranging the pile with bulldozers and excavators, Shawn Ray, whose family runs the company, told the Times-News Oct. 20.

George Fabe Russell is the Henderson County Reporter for the Hendersonville Times-News. Tips, questions, comments? Email him at [email protected].

HENDERSONVILLE, N.C. —

UNC Health Pardee is temporarily relocating its urgent care and primary care services in Mills River Plaza, located on Boylston Highway, due to ongoing smoke conditions in the area.

The announcement was made Wednesday morning and officials say it is out of an abundance of caution.

The smoke is from a mulch fire, which the Mills River Fire and Rescue posted on social media about on Oct. 13.

That post read: "Good afternoon, we wanted to take a moment and provide some info on the mulch fire as it continues to cause very smoky conditions in the area. In regards to extinguishment, we exhausted all possible methods but water will not penetrate into the middle of the piles where the fire continues to burn. Equipment cannot be utilized to reduce the piles because it too would catch on fire. Unfortunately, the fire has to burn the fuel load (the woody debris) before it will go out. There are numerous issues that make it much more complicated than even that though, such as water runoff and the impact to creeks and streams as well as the stress that flowing millions of gallons of water per day puts on our water system. We understand that the smoke is quite an inconvenience to many, but at this point there is simply nothing that can be done other than let the fire burn itself out. We are receiving numerous calls asking why we are not putting it out and please understand, if that was a viable option, we certainly would, but it’s not. Spraying water on it would simply extend the length of the inconvenience to our community. Thank you and have a great day!"

Pardee Urgent Care said beginning Wednesday it will operate out of the Mission Pardee Health Campus located at 2695 Hendersonville Rd. in Arden.

Patients of Pardee BlueMD at 3334 Boylston Hwy. will temporarily be seen at Pardee BlueMD at 1027 Fleming St. in Hendersonville.

Individuals seeking urgent care services can continue to reserve a spot online for their preferred location at PardeeUrgentCare.com. All current patients with scheduled appointments at Pardee BlueMD - 3334 Boylston Hwy. will be contacted directly regarding these temporary changes.

Pardee said it will continue to monitor air quality conditions and keep the public informed as the situation evolves.