Last Updated on April 1, 2026 8:10 am
A Marion woman has been charged in connection with the Jumping Branch Fire burning in McDowell County, after the North Carolina Forest Service determined the fire was caused by improperly discarded smoking material.
Hilary Brooke Inman, 38, of Marion, was cited and charged Tuesday under North Carolina General Statute 14-138.1 for starting a fire on grassland, brushland or woodland without fully extinguishing it, a class 3 misdemeanor.
According to court documents, Inman admitted to accidentally igniting the fire by removing hot ash from a cigar she was smoking at the edge of a wooded bank behind a home on Locust Cove Road on Saturday afternoon. The fire spread to private land and U.S. Forest Service property. Inman also confessed to starting the fire in a 911 call to the McDowell County Communications Center.
The Jumping Branch Fire has grown to 275 acres and reached 30 percent containment as of Tuesday. The fire is burning in steep terrain off Locust Cove Road in the Buck Creek community, approximately eight miles northwest of Marion. Firefighters are dealing with significant Helene blowdown in the area, which has added fuel and complicated containment efforts.
Multiple agencies are working the fire, including the U.S. Forest Service, NC Forest Service, McDowell County Emergency Management, and local fire departments. Aircraft have been dropping water on the fire using Lake James and Lake Tahoma as water sources. NC 80 north of Toms Creek Road to the Yancey County line remains closed.
Anyone responsible for starting a wildfire in North Carolina may be liable for the full cost of fire suppression, in addition to the standard $100 fine and $183 in court costs for burn ban violations.
The NC Forest Service statewide burn ban remains in effect for all 100 counties until further notice. All open burning is illegal. Call 911 to report any wildfire activity.
NC Forest Service / NC Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services
