Tuesday, April 7, 2026

An airplane dumps water from Deer Lake Village on the Looking Glass wildfire on Tuesday afternoon.
Video by Terina Plyler/ WSQL

By Jonathan Rich
BrevardBeagle.com

Tuesday afternoon the air around Pisgah Forest reverberated with the sound of emergency helicopters circling Transylvania County as part of firefighting efforts to quell the Looking Glass wildfire near NC Highway 276.

Crews responded to four miles of wildfires in the Pisgah Forest Ranger District. A Chinook helicopter was spotted taking water from Deer Lake Village and dumping it on the blaze.

As of 9 p.m. Tuesday, firefighters had reached 15% containment on the Looking Glass fire, but it had grown to 30 acres. The steady use of water-dropping aircraft, fire crews, and engines made significant progress in containing the fire, according to National Forests Public Information Officer Tim Engrav.

Photo by Terina Plyler / WSQL

The Forest Service subsequently closed Looking Glass Rock Trail and its trailhead, as well as Davidson Road (FS 475), Headwaters Road (FS 475B), and many trails associated with and accessed from those roads.

Visitors are to remain out of all closure areas until the Looking Glass wildfire is completely dispersed.

Emergency vehicles and smoke impacted traffic along the Highway 276 corridor on Tuesday. Drivers should use extra caution in this area as smoke may affect nearby communities and roadways on the Wednesday morning commute.

For air up-to-date air quality information, visit fire.airnow.gov.

Contact Jonathan Rich at editor@BrevardBeagle.com.