A fire update was given and the Rosenwald Memorial photo was presented to honor the Rosenwald legacy in Burke County during Tuesday night's Burke County Board of Commissioners regular meeting. Fire Marshal and Emergency Director, Michael Willis, updated Commissioners on the forest fires in the South Mountains, stating in the last 8 days Burke firefighters answered 287 calls for smoke investigations or reports of outside fires. John Howard, Initial Commander and John Kern, Incident Commander with the Florida Forest Service, spoke on the efforts of the operation on South Mountain. Howard told Commissioners the County was receiving support from various states across the country such as Pennsylvania and Alaska, but due to the 8 large fires in WNC, they are still trying to get more resources. According to Kern, the fire cost to date is $250,000. The major areas of concern are where the fires are moving to the north, east, and west into the game lands. Regional historian from Raleigh, Chris Robertson presented the Rosenwald Memorial photo and gave a history of the 5 Rosenwald schools built in Burke County to celebrate National Education Week. The Rosenwald photo pictures the last standing Rosenwald School in Burke County, the Canal Corpening Rosenwald School. Robertson said the memorial photo honors early African-American educators who worked to improve literacy and keep students involved. Some citizens who were students of the Rosenwald School were in attendance.

The Chestnut Knob wildfire at South Mountains State Park is estimated at 4600 acres. Residents along Bob Knob Road were advised to evacuate. A shelter is open at the Collett Street Rec Center in Downtown Morganton. Donations are being accepted at the Foothills Higher Education Center 2128 South Sterling Street, Morganton, between 12-7pm daily. Items requested include: beef jerky, protein and breakfast bars, bottled water(16oz), Gatorade (12-16oz), socks, hand wipes, hand lotion, foot powder, hand warmers, bandanas, toboggans/wool caps, wipes and gloves.