The moment a wildfire starts near you, you'll get an instant alert and simple tips to reduce your smoke exposure.
30xSmaller than a human hair
Fine enough to reach deep into the lungs. A MERV 13 is built to capture it.
It Doesn't Stay Local
Smoke rides the wind far downwind — you can get smoky air with no fire nearby.
Simple steps to reduce indoor exposure.
During smoke events, the EPA recommends upgrading to a MERV 13 filter — or the highest-rated filter your system can handle — to help reduce the fine particles smoke brings indoors. MERV 13 is the level most home HVAC systems can run while still capturing PM2.5, the fine particulate that makes up the bulk of wildfire smoke.
Over 70,000 wildfires burn in the U.S. every year.
Wildfire smoke can travel 1,000+ miles, affecting states that aren't even near the blaze.
Exposure to wildfire smoke can worsen asthma, trigger heart issues, and lead to ER visits.
Indoor air can hold more fine particles during wildfire events unless it's properly filtered.
The EPA advises using MERV 13 filters or portable HEPA air cleaners during wildfire smoke events.
Use the live wildfire smoke tracker and upgrade your air filters today to protect your lungs and your home.
Shop Filters For Smoke Protection
Author: Michelle Wan, filterbuy.com/author/michelle-wan/
Reviewer: David Clark, Licensed HVAC Technician
Published: July 22, 2026
Updated: July 22, 2026
Several wildfires are burning across North Carolina today, with the heaviest smoke lingering along the coast in Brunswick, Hyde, and Onslow/Duplin counties. Use the live map below to check fire locations and your local Air Quality Index, then read on for the right air filter to keep smoke out of your indoor air.
North Carolina has three active wildfires today in the coastal counties of Brunswick, Hyde, and Onslow/Duplin, each with partial to majority containment. Smoldering organic soils mean hazy conditions can persist even after a fire is mostly contained. Check the live map above for your county's AQI, and set up a clean-air room with a high-efficiency air filter if smoke reaches your neighborhood.
Quarry Road Fire, Brunswick County: 283 acres, 50% contained as of July 13, 2026.
Rose Bay Canal Fire, Hyde County: 667 acres, 83% contained, with soils smoldering underground and producing regional haze.
Chicken Farm Lane Fire, Onslow/Duplin line: 164 acres, 75% contained, with hotspots near Cypress Creek and Chinquapin.
PM2.5, wildfire smoke's main health hazard, reaches deep into the lungs and bloodstream.
A high-efficiency filter rated MERV 13, where your HVAC system supports it, is among the most effective at-home tools for reducing indoor PM2.5.
Containment changes daily, so the live map above is the authoritative source, not any single date on this page.
This map layers live satellite fire detections, N.C. Forest Service ground reports, and real-time AQI readings from monitoring stations statewide. Zoom into your county to see active fire perimeters, drifting smoke plumes, and today's AQI color code, from Green (Good) through Maroon (Hazardous). For conditions outside North Carolina, see Filterbuy's national wildfire and smoke map.
The map combines three live sources: heat-sensing satellites that flag hot spots within hours, the N.C. Forest Service's Signal 14 database of confirmed acreage and containment, and sensors that measure PM2.5 and convert it into the color-coded AQI shown on the map. For a full walkthrough, see our guide on how to read a wildfire smoke map.
North Carolina's active wildfire activity is concentrated along the coastal plain today, not the mountains most people picture. Extreme summer heat and dry fuels are driving three fires right now.
Quarry Road Fire, Brunswick County: Burning near Shallotte since July 10, this fire held at approximately 283 acres and 50% containment as of Monday, July 13. Crews are mopping up smoldering fuels, and light to moderate smoke may continue underground.
Rose Bay Canal Fire, Hyde County: Southwest of the state prison, this fire has burned about 667 acres and reached 83% containment. Deep organic soils are smoldering below the surface, generating persistent haze even as the fire line shrinks.
Chicken Farm Lane Fire, Onslow/Duplin County Line: This fire has scorched about 164 acres and is roughly 75% contained. Residents near Cypress Creek and Chinquapin should expect lingering smoke with no active threat to the public.
Conditions can shift with wind and weather in hours, so rely on the live map for the current picture.
Figures reflect the most recently reported status as of each source date and change daily. Check the live map above for current conditions.
The Rose Bay Canal Fire burns through pocosin, the dense peat wetlands of North Carolina's coastal plain, rather than the timber and brush that fuel most Western wildfires. Once drought dries this peat out, it can smolder several feet underground for weeks after the surface fire looks contained. The Evans Road Fire burned inside the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge for roughly three months in 2008, consuming more than 41,000 acres of peat, and a study in Environmental Health Perspectives linked that smoke event to a real rise in emergency room visits for heart and lung problems in surrounding counties. Containment percentage alone doesn't tell the full story here, since the ground underneath can keep burning for weeks, as is happening in Hyde County now.
The N.C. Forest Service's Signal 14 database also tracks the state's baseline: a typical day sees about a dozen small fires burning a few acres statewide. Month to date, 247 fires have burned 1,601.6 acres, and year to date, 5,565 fires have burned 15,322.2 acres. Today's three coastal fires alone have burned roughly 1,114 acres, well above a typical day's total, though smaller than the multi-thousand-acre fires that burned in the western mountains during spring 2025.
Smoke doesn't stop at a county line. Wind can carry PM2.5 from a coastal fire into the Triangle or Piedmont within a day, so zoom the map to your own city before assuming your air is clear. Haze with no nearby fire on the map usually means the smoke traveled a long way, often from Canadian wildfires drifting hundreds of miles on upper-level winds.
Wildfire and air quality alerts go out by county. Find yours below.
Charlotte (Mecklenburg County)
Raleigh (Wake County)
Durham (Durham County)
Greensboro (Guilford County)
Winston-Salem (Forsyth County)
Wilmington (New Hanover County)
Asheville (Buncombe County)
Fayetteville (Cumberland County)
Greenville (Pitt County)
Jacksonville (Onslow County)
New Bern (Craven County)
The component of wildfire smoke that matters most for your health is PM2.5, particulate matter roughly 2.5 microns or smaller, about 30 times thinner than a human hair. These particles bypass your body's natural filters and reach deep into the lungs and bloodstream, commonly causing eye and throat irritation, coughing, and shortness of breath. People with asthma, COPD, or heart disease, along with pregnant women, children, and older adults, face a higher risk of serious symptoms.
Homeowners who set up a clean-air room before smoke arrives stay far more comfortable than those scrambling once the AQI spikes.
Check your county's real-time AQI above before deciding whether to keep windows and doors closed.
Set up a clean-air room with a well-sealed space and a high-efficiency air filter or portable air cleaner sized for it.
Run your HVAC system on recirculate rather than pulling in outside air.
Avoid frying food, burning candles, or vacuuming without a HEPA filter while smoke is elevated.
A pleated air filter is the first line of defense for whole-home filtration. Filterbuy's MERV 13 filters are built for the higher dust-holding capacity wildfire smoke demands, and they fit standard residential HVAC systems without the airflow restriction of true HEPA media. For background on how any air filter works, see the glossary below.
When wildfire smoke rolls into a coastal county, most homeowners are watching the sky outside, but the real exposure risk is what keeps getting pulled indoors every time the HVAC system runs. We build every filter size by hand at our plant in Talladega, Alabama, and a properly rated filter is one of the simplest, most affordable ways to cut that exposure.
David Heacock, Founder and CEO, Filterbuy
Seven trusted sources checked against the live map above.
Satellite fire detections layered with county-level AQI. Source: AirNow Fire and Smoke Map
What each AQI color means for your health. Source: EPA Wildland Fires and Smoke
Which groups face the highest health risk from smoke. Source: CDC How Wildfire Smoke Affects Your Body
Daily statewide acreage and containment figures. Source: N.C. Forest Service Wildfire Situation Report
How to build an evacuation plan and go-bag. Source: Ready.gov Wildfire Preparedness Guide
How wind, humidity, and drought raise fire danger. Source: National Weather Service Wildfire Ready
N.C.'s Code Orange, Red, and Purple alerts by county. Source: N.C. DEQ Smoke, Wildfires & Prescribed Burns
National Interagency Fire Center: 3.59 million acres burned nationwide, year-to-date as of July 13, 2026, the national backdrop for the fires above. Source: National Interagency Fire Center Statistics
Aguilera et al., 2021 (PMC7935892): Wildfire PM2.5 drives a much larger jump in respiratory hospital admissions than PM2.5 from other sources. Source: Aguilera et al., 2021 Study (PMC7935892)
American Lung Association "State of the Air" 2026: 152.3 million people, 44% of the U.S. population, live in counties with failing grades for ozone or particle pollution. Source: American Lung Association "State of the Air" 2026 Key Findings
A wildfire map tells you what's burning, not what to do about the smoke already drifting toward a coastal neighborhood that never sees flame. Three fires behind today's conditions in Brunswick, Hyde, and Duplin counties each read as mostly contained on paper while still breathing haze into communities miles from the fire line. Families who check the live map daily tend to get through smoke events with less stress than those who wait until the sky turns orange. Bookmark this page on a clear afternoon, not during the panic search.
Use the live map at the top of this page and zoom to your county for active fire perimeters and smoke plumes updated in near real time.
Green means Good, Yellow means Moderate, Orange means Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups, Red means Unhealthy, Purple means Very Unhealthy, and Maroon means Hazardous.
Smoke can persist for days after high containment if deep organic soils keep smoldering underground, as is happening in Hyde County. Containment describes the fire line, not how much smoke is still being produced.
A higher-efficiency pleated filter, generally MERV 13, where your HVAC system's airflow can support it, captures more fine particulate matter than a standard MERV 8 filter.
If your county shows Code Orange or higher, sensitive groups should limit prolonged outdoor exertion, and everyone should reduce heavy activity once conditions reach Code Red or worse.
You've checked today's map, so put that information to work indoors. Shop Filterbuy's MERV 13 filters for fine-particle protection before the next smoke event reaches your county.
PM2.5: Fine particulate matter 2.5 microns or smaller, the primary harmful component of wildfire smoke.
MERV (Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value): A 1-16 scale rating how effectively an air filter captures particles.
Air Filter: Pleated media inside an HVAC system that removes particles from air as it passes through.
Containment: The percentage of a wildfire's perimeter with a control line stopping it from spreading further. It does not mean the fire is out.
Code Orange / Red / Purple: N.C. Division of Air Quality alert levels for Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups, Unhealthy, and Very Unhealthy conditions.
Pocosin: A dense, peat-based wetland across North Carolina's coastal plain, whose deep soil can smolder underground for weeks after drought.
Each link below was verified live and rendering on July 14, 2026.
Real-Time Air Quality Index and Live Wildfire and Smoke Maps: Filterbuy's national AQI and wildfire tracking hub with ZIP-code lookup.
The Complete Mini Split Ductless HVAC Buying Guide: Sizing and filtration guidance for homes without central HVAC.
Subscribe to wildfire smoke alerts for North Carolina to get a heads-up before the next event reaches your area.
