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(NEW YORK) — The government has claimed that Palestinian protester Mahmoud Khalil intentionally misrepresented information on his green card application and therefore is inadmissible to the United States.

According to recent court filings, President Donald Trump’s administration said Khalil failed to disclose when applying for his green card last year that his employment by the Syria Office at the British Embassy in Beirut went “beyond 2022” and that he was a “political affairs officer” for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees from June to November 2023.

“Khalil is now charged as inadmissible at the time of his adjustment of status because he sought to procure an immigration benefit by fraud of willful misrepresentation of a material fact,” attorneys for the administration said in the filing.

The administration also claimed that Khalil did not tell the government that he was a member of the Columbia University Apartheid Divest group.

The government arrested Khalil on March 8 after invoking a rarely used provision of immigration law that they said allows the secretary of state to revoke the legal status of people whose presence in the country could have “adverse foreign policy consequences.” The new accusations seem to represent an attempt to strengthen the administration’s justification for detaining Khalil and denying his release.

“Khalil’s First Amendment allegations are a red herring, and there is an independent basis to justify removal sufficient to foreclose Khalil’s constitutional claim,” the filing says.

“The additional charges the government filed last week are completely meritless,” Marc Van Der Hout, whose legal firm represents Khalil, told ABC News in response to a request for comment. “They show that the government has no case whatsoever on this bogus charge that his presence in the U.S. would have adverse foreign policy consequences. This case is purely about First Amendment protected activity and speech, and U.S. citizens and permanent residents alike are free to say what they wish about what is going on in the world.”

“Regardless of his allegations concerning political speech, Khalil withheld membership in certain organizations and failed to disclose continuing employment by the Syria Office in the British Embassy in Beirut when he submitted his adjustment of status application. It is black-letter law that misrepresentations in this context are not protected speech,” the government said in the filing.

During a State Department briefing Monday, spokesperson Tammy Bruce was asked multiple times about whether the department now viewed prior work for UNRWA as grounds for disqualification for visa applicants — but she repeatedly declined to answer.

“If you lie in your efforts to come to the United States to get a visa for any reason, or for a green card, maybe there haven’t been repercussions, or we haven’t done things properly in the past. A lot of things have changed with the election of Donald Trump,” Bruce said in a general statement during the briefing.

Khalil, a leader of the encampment protests at Columbia last spring, was taken upon his initial detention from his student apartment building to 26 Federal Plaza in lower Manhattan and then to an immigration detention facility in Elizabeth, New Jersey, before being transported to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Louisiana, according to his legal team.

ABC News’ Shannon Kingston contributed to this report.

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(SOLDOTNA, ALASKA) — Good Samaritans helped save stranded plane crash victims on Monday after their aircraft went missing over a mountain range in Alaska.

A Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser was reported overdue on Sunday night, according to the Alaska National Guard. The plane had taken off from Soldotna Airport in Soldotna, Alaska, earlier in the day on Sunday.

The Alaska Rescue Coordination Center, a U.S. Coast Guard Super Hercules, Alaska State Troopers and Alaska National Guard launched a search effort but could not find it.

There was no emergency transmitter signal coming from the wreckage.

However, the Alaska National Guard told ABC News that a cellphone ping led searchers to believe the plane was near Tustumena Lake and the Kenai Mountains.

It was a civilian in an aircraft who wound up spotting the plane crash site on Monday.

Alaska officials said it was a testament to the strength of the community in Alaska that when an aircraft goes down, everybody takes to their planes and they go out and look.

One of the good Samaritans seeking the missing plane was Dale Eicher, who told ABC News that he was able to fly over the site of the crash approximately half an hour after it was first located and saw the survivors awaiting rescue.

An Alaska Army National Guard Blackhawk medivac variant with extended range, a hoist and a flight medic — part of the 207th Aviation Troop Command — went out to where the wreckage was spotted and found three people on the wing of the PA-12, which had seemingly broken the surface of a frozen body of water and had become partially submerged.

The National Guard told ABC News that the plane had missed the main lake; instead, the aircraft seems to have settled amid a glacial field and large body of water.

All three passengers on the plane survived the crash, were successfully rescued and were taken to a local hospital. There are no further updates on any injuries or what led to the crash.

ABC News’ Lena Camilletti contributed to this report.

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(DALLAS, TEXAS) — Weddings symbolize a future filled with tomorrows. However, for Dallas woman Laura Grillo, there would be no wedding, no honeymoon and no future.

Urged by her best friend, Heather Nabor, and maid of honor, Grillo followed the ritual in the bridal salon, ringing a handbell when she selected her dress.

“I remember we finally picked out her dress and that perfect outfit for the perfect day,” Nabor told “20/20” “Making the wish, ringing the bell, I kinda talked her into it. I’m glad I did that.”

She never got to wear it — just a week before her big day, around noon on Nov. 13, 2015, she was found lying in a pool of blood on her kitchen floor.

When officers and emergency service workers arrived, they discovered Grillo dead. A shell casing was found on the floor — Grillo had been shot.

“Inside the master bedroom there was a safe on the dresser, the door was open, and there was two plastic totes that were turned over on the bed,” Detective Jeff Freeman, who worked on the case, told “20/20.” “It didn’t look as far as burglary that was interrupted or anything like that. It just didn’t look right to me.”

Since Grillo’s fiancé, John Makris, was captured on surveillance video at a Home Depot store across town at the time she was killed, after interviewing him police determined he couldn’t have killed her.

Nonetheless, his behavior following Grillo’s death raised questions.

Originally from Greece, Makris was a contractor.

Detectives recalled what Makris said at the scene when they asked him who lived in the house — before he was told that Grillo had died.

“He stated that it was him, the kids, his mother and the victim’s brother,” Freeman said. “But he never did say the victim’s name. That was a huge red flag. Because maybe he knew a lot more of what was going on.”

After finding out that the wedding flowers were non-refundable, Laura’s best friend says he repurposed them for the funeral, and asked a neighbor to help scrub Grillo’s blood off the kitchen floor using Grillo’s own toothbrush.

Jesus Treviño, one of two employees seen with Makris on the morning Grillo was attacked, was questioned by investigators — and disappeared.

Treviño was ultimately located in the Clearwater, Florida, area and taken into custody by U.S. Marshals. Treviño refused to talk, so investigators turned to Makris’ other employee seen with Makris the morning of the murder, James Vileda.

During a four-hour interview, he gave a troubling account of a plot, a crime and a cover-up.

He told police he received a call from Treviño — an old friend — about a new job. Vileda said that the conversation quickly shifted from working on a construction job to becoming an accomplice in a murder.

Vileda claimed that Grillo’s death was not a robbery gone wrong. He said it was a murder for hire, orchestrated by the man Laura Grillo was just days away from marrying –her fiancé, Makris.

In September 2018, Makris was convicted on a murder-for-hire charge and sentenced to life in prison. Treviño was convicted of capital murder and received a life sentence, while Villeda pleaded guilty to murder in exchange for his testimony and got a 25-year sentence.

From prison, Makris tried to have custody of their daughter awarded to his mother, so she could raise her in Greece. He did not succeed, and she was adopted by Grillo’s best friend Nabor — the woman who would have been her maid of honor.

ABC News reached out to Makris at the Texas prison where he is serving his life sentence, but he declined our request for an interview.

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(COSTA RICA) — The 14-year-old son of former New York Yankees player Brett Gardner was vacationing with his family in Costa Rica when he suddenly fell ill and died in his sleep, according to the U.S. State Department.

Miller Gardner’s death was announced Sunday in a statement by his father and mother, Jessica Gardner, that was released on the Yankees’ X account.

Brett and Jessica Gardner said their son died in his sleep on Friday while on vacation, after falling ill along with several other family members.

The Gardners said their youngest child “has left us far too soon.”

On Monday, the U.S. State Department confirmed to ABC News that Miller Gardner died while he was in Costa Rica.

“We can confirm the death of a U.S. citizen in Costa Rica on March 21,” a State Department spokesperson said. “We are closely monitoring local authorities’ investigation into the cause of death. Out of respect for the privacy of the family and loved ones during this difficult time, we have no further comment at this time.”

The State Department did not say what city the Gardners were staying in at the time of the teen’s death.

“We have so many questions and so few answers at this point, but we do know that he passed away peacefully in his sleep on the morning of Friday, March 21st,” the statement from Gardner and his wife read. “Miller was a beloved son and brother and we cannot yet comprehend our life without his infectious smile. He loved football, baseball, golf, hunting, fishing, his family and his friends. He lived life to the fullest every single day.”

The couple also expressed deep gratitude for the support and encouragement they’ve received.

“We are confident our faith, family, and friends will help us navigate this unimaginable loss,” the Gardners wrote in the statement. “Our prayers go out to Miller’s teammates and friends, as well as to all other families who have lost a child far too soon as we share their grief. Please respect our wishes for privacy as we mourn and search for healing.”

In addition to Miller, Brett and Jessica Gardner also share an older son, Hunter Gardner.

Brett Gardner, a former outfielder, spent his entire 14-season MLB career with the Yankees. He was named an American League All-Star in 2015 and won a Golden Glove Award in 2016, and was part of the team that won the World Series in 2009, just one year after making his major league debut. He retired following the 2021 season.

In the wake of the news of Miller Gardner’s death, the Yankees shared a separate statement on Facebook, offering “unconditional and absolute” love to the Gardner family, while also acknowledging their need for privacy during this difficult time.

“Words feel insignificant and insufficient in trying to describe such an unimaginable loss,” the Yankees’ statement reads. “It wasn’t just Brett who literally grew up in this organization for more than 17 years — so did his wife, Jessica, and their two boys, Hunter and Miller.”

“We grieve with Brett, Jessica, Hunter and their community of family and friends in mourning the loss of Miller, who had a spark in his eyes, an outgoing and feisty personality, and a warm and loving nature,” the statement added.

“May Miller rest in peace,” the statement concludes.

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(AUSTIN, Texas) — Multiple incendiary devices were found at a Tesla dealership in Austin, Texas, on Monday morning, according to the Austin Police Department.

Officers located the “suspicious devices” after responding to a Tesla dealership on U.S. Route 183 just after 8 a.m. local time and called the Austin Police Department Bomb Squad to investigate, police said in a statement.

The devices were determined to be incendiary and were “taken into police custody without incident,” officials said.

Police said it is an ongoing investigation, and had no further information to release at this time.

Recent attacks aimed at Tesla dealerships, vehicles and charging stations have been reported in Las Vegas; Seattle; Kansas City, Missouri; and Charleston, South Carolina, as well as other cities across the United States since Tesla CEO Elon Musk began his role with the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.

In a public announcement Friday evening, the FBI said incidents targeting Teslas have been recorded in at least nine states since January, including arson, gunfire and graffiti.

“These criminal actions appear to have been conducted by lone offenders, and all known incidents occurred at night,” the FBI said in the public service announcement. “Individuals require little planning to use rudimentary tactics, such as improvised incendiary devices and firearms, and may perceive these attacks as victimless property crimes.”

The FBI urged the public to be vigilant and to look out for suspicious activity in areas around Tesla dealerships.

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(WASHINGTON) — A federal appeals court is hearing arguments Monday over the Trump administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act last week to deport more than 200 alleged members of a Venezuelan gang to El Salvador with no due process.

The hearing comes hours after a federal judge ruled that the migrants deserved to have a court hearing before their deportations to determine whether they belonged to the Tren de Aragua gang.

In a ruling denying the Trump administration’s request to dissolve his order blocking the deportations, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg wrote that Trump’s “unprecedented use” of the Alien Enemies Act does not remove the government’s responsibility to ensure the men removed could contest their designation as alleged gang members.

Trump last week invoked the Alien Enemies Act — a wartime authority used to deport noncitizens with little-to-no due process — by arguing that the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua is a “hybrid criminal state” that is invading the United States. Boasberg temporarily blocked the president’s use of the law to deport more than 200 alleged gang members to El Salvador, calling the removals “awfully frightening” and “incredibly troublesome.”

An official with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement subsequently acknowledged in a sworn declaration that “many” of the noncitizens deported last week under the Alien Enemies Act did not have criminal records in the United States.

“The Court need not resolve the thorny question of whether the judiciary has the authority to assess this claim in the first place. That is because Plaintiffs are likely to succeed on another equally fundamental theory: before they may be deported, they are entitled to individualized hearings to determine whether the Act applies to them at all,” Judge Boasberg wrote in his ruling Monday, adding the men were likely to win their case.

Judge Boasberg acknowledged that the use of the Alien Enemies Act “implicates a host of complicated legal issues” but sidestepped the larger question of whether the law was properly invoked, instead focusing on the due process deserved by the men. He added that the men have been irreparably harmed by their removal to an El Salvadoran prison where they face “torture, beatings, and even death.”

“Federal courts are equipped to adjudicate that question when individuals threatened with detention and removal challenge their designation as such. Because the named Plaintiffs dispute that they are members of Tren de Aragua, they may not be deported until a court has been able to decide the merits of their challenge,” he wrote.

Judge Boasberg also cast doubt on the Trump administration’s allegation that the decision risks national security, noting that the men would still be detained within the United States if they had not been deported.

During a court hearing on Friday, DOJ lawyers acknowledged that the men deported on the Alien Enemies Act have the right to a habeas hearing — where they could contest their alleged membership in Tren de Aragua — but declined to vow that each man would be given a hearing before they were removed from the country.

A three-judge appeals panel is hearing arguments Monday over the Trump administration’s request to overturn Judge Boasberg’s ruling blocking the deportations.

If the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals overturns Boasberg’s blocking of the president’s use of the centuries-old wartime law, the Trump administration could exercise the authority to deport any suspected migrant gang member with little-to-no due process.

Lawyers representing the Venezuelan men targeted under Trump’s proclamation have argued that the president exceeded his authority by using the Alien Enemies Act against a gang — rather than a state actor — outside of wartime.

“The President is trying to write Congress’s limits out of the act,” the plaintiffs argued, adding that U.S. presidents have used the law three other times during or immediately preceding a war.

But the Trump administration has argued that the judiciary does not have the right to review the use of the Alien Enemies Act, alleging the deportations fall under the president’s Article II powers to remove alleged terrorists and execute the country’s foreign policy.

“The President’s action is lawful and based upon a long history of using war authorities against organizations connected to foreign states and national security judgments, which are not subject to judicial second guessing,” DOJ lawyers have argued in court filings.

The Trump administration is asking the appeals court to overturn Boasberg’s temporary restraining order blocking the deportations, while Judge Boasberg continues to examine whether the Trump administration deliberately defied his order by sending the men to an El Salvadoran prison rather than returning them to the United States as he directed.

“The government’s not being terribly cooperative at this point, but I will get to the bottom of whether they violated my order and who ordered this and what’s the consequence,” Boasberg said on Friday.

With deportations under the Alien Enemies Act temporarily blocked, the Trump administration has vowed to use other authorities to deport noncitizens. Over the weekend, Venezuelan National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez announced that the country had reached an agreement to resume repatriation flights of Venezuelan migrants from the U.S.

“We’re going to keep targeting the worst of the worst, which we’ve been doing since day one, and deporting from the United States through the various laws on the books,” border czar Tom Homan told ABC’s Jon Karl on Sunday.

The three-person panel hearing today’s arguments includes two judges nominated by Republican presidents, including one nominated by Trump himself. The D.C. Circuit is the last stop before the Trump administration could take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, where Trump nominated three judges during his last term, solidifying the court’s conservative majority.

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(WASHINGTON) — 
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday to reduce the Department of Education to its essential functions. The directive tells what’s left of the agency to prioritize sending money to school choice programs across America.

These programs — which are also referred to as school vouchers and school freedom — allow parents to take tax dollars allocated for their children to attend public schools and, in most cases, use that money to send them to private schools.

The argument supporting this movement is that private schools often provide a better education for children.

In Tennessee, where supporters of the programs refer to them as scholarships, State House Rep. Todd Warner is a proud product of rural public schools. He’s a self-described “die-hard Republican,” but told ABC News that he believes what some conservatives are currently trying to do to education is wrong.

“Public schools are the backbone of the community,” Warner said. “On Friday nights, Friday night lights, the football game. It’s where everybody comes together. It’s where we tailgate and see each other’s family before the game. It’s where we cheer each other’s children on.”

For the past four years at the Tennessee Statehouse, Warner represented what he refers to as “country folk” from counties so red that Confederate flags continue to fly over a few homes and monuments.

“I’m in favor of reducing the Department of Education on the federal level,” Warner said. “I would love to see President Trump send more money back to the states. I’m good with that, but I don’t want to see that go to the private sector. I want to see it help our public schools.”

But in February, Gov. Bill Lee signed Tennessee’s universal school choice program into law. It joined at least 29 states that allow some form of school vouchers, including about 15 states that do not consider parental wealth.

Warner is currently working to limit the number of vouchers in Tennessee.

He may have a life size Trump cutout in his office and hang his red hat on the wall above a dead buck, but Warner told ABC News that he doesn’t mind being called a sellout in Nashville because he knows that at home in the district he represents south of the city, his constituents know that isn’t who he is.

“You know, the best memories in life that I have,” Warner said. “Some of them are in the public school, in high school, you know, with those teachers, with those coaches. And it’s that way in a lot of rural Tennessee. I mean, it’s the public school or it’s nothing.”

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(PALM BEACH, Fla.) — A Florida man was arrested after driving a car into a group of protesters at a Tesla dealership on Saturday, according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.

The suspect, 44-year-old Andrew Dutil, “drove his vehicle, jumping the curb onto the sidewalk at a slow rate of speed into a crowd of protestors,” police said in a statement.

Police received “numerous calls” regarding a black Nissan SUV driving “up on a curb in front of the Tesla dealerships almost striking multiple pedestrians,” according to police.

The protesters moved out of the way to avoid being struck by Dutil’s vehicle, police said.

When police arrived on the scene, Dutil’s car was parked on the curb in front of the dealership with multiple people surrounding it, authorities said.

Dutil was arrested and transported to the Palm Beach County Jail “without incident,” police said.

There were no reported injuries among the protesters, police said.

Karen Holland, who was participating in the peaceful protest, told police that Dutil’s vehicle “drove by earlier in the day and was yelling at all of the protestors,” officials said.

When Dutil returned and started driving up on the curb toward protesters, Holland said she was “in fear for her life and believed she was going to get struck by the vehicle,” police said.

Dutil was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent, police said.

The incident Friday comes as many Tesla vehicles, dealerships and charging stations have suffered vandalism, arson attacks and protests since CEO Elon Musk began his role with the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.

Additional protests occurred at Tesla dealerships in Colorado Springs, Boston, Memphis and Milford, Connecticut, over the weekend. In Boston, demonstrators were seen holding signs that read, “This ends here,” and “Recall Elon.”

In a public announcement on Friday, the FBI said incidents targeting Teslas have been recorded in at least nine states since January, including arson, gunfire and graffiti.

“These criminal actions appear to have been conducted by lone offenders, and all known incidents occurred at night,” the FBI said. “Individuals require little planning to use rudimentary tactics, such as improvised incendiary devices and firearms, and may perceive these attacks as victimless property crimes.”

Another recent Tesla incident occurred in Fargo, North Dakota, where fire crews found a “small fire in wood chips at the base of the electric vehicle chargers in the parking lot” early Friday morning, according to the Fargo Fire Department.

Officials said the fire is considered “suspicious” and the cause is under investigation. It is unclear whether the fire damaged the chargers, authorities said.

The New York City Police Department is also asking for the public’s help in identifying two men who spray-painted a swastika on a Cybertruck on Thursday.

A spokesperson for Tesla did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.

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(WASHINGTON) — The Venezuelan migrants removed by the Trump administration to El Salvador last week deserved to have a court hearing before their deportations to determine whether they belonged to the Tren de Aragua gang, a federal judge ruled Monday morning.

In a ruling denying the Trump Administration’s request to dissolve his order blocking the deportations, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg wrote that Trump’s “unprecedented use” of the Alien Enemies Act does not remove the government’s responsibility to ensure the men removed could contest their designation as alleged gang members.

Trump last week invoked the Alien Enemies Act — a wartime authority used to deport noncitizens with little-to-no due process — by arguing that the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua is a “hybrid criminal state” that is invading the U.S.

“The Court need not resolve the thorny question of whether the judiciary has the authority to assess this claim in the first place. That is because Plaintiffs are likely to succeed on another equally fundamental theory: before they may be deported, they are entitled to individualized hearings to determine whether the Act applies to them at all,” Judge Boasberg wrote in his ruling Monday, adding the men were likely to win their case.

Judge Boasberg acknowledged that the use of the Alien Enemies Act “implicates a host of complicated legal issues” but sidestepped the larger question of whether the law was properly invoked, instead focusing on the due process deserved by the men. He added that the men have been irreparably harmed by their removal to an El Salvadoran prison where they face “torture, beatings, and even death.”

“Federal courts are equipped to adjudicate that question when individuals threatened with detention and removal challenge their designation as such. Because the named Plaintiffs dispute that they are members of Tren de Aragua, they may not be deported until a court has been able to decide the merits of their challenge,” he wrote.

Judge Boasberg also cast doubt on the Trump administration’s allegation that the decision risks national security, noting that the men would still be detained within the United States if they had not been deported.
During a court hearing on Friday, DOJ lawyers acknowledged that the men deported on the Alien Enemies Act have the right to a habeas hearing — where they could contest their alleged membership in Tren de Aragua — but declined to vow that each man would be given a hearing before they were removed from the country.

Boasberg’s ruling comes as a federal appeals court prepares to hear arguments Monday over the Trump administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act for last week’s deportations.

If the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals overturns Boasberg’s blocking of the president’s use of the centuries-old wartime law, the Trump administration could exercise the authority to deport any suspected migrant gang member with little-to-no due process.

Lawyers representing the Venezuelan men targeted under Trump’s proclamation have argued that the president exceeded his authority by using the Alien Enemies Act against a gang — rather than a state actor — outside of wartime.

“The President is trying to write Congress’s limits out of the act,” the plaintiffs argued, adding that U.S. presidents have used the law three other times during or immediately preceding a war.

But the Trump administration has argued that the judiciary does not have the right to review the use of the Alien Enemies Act, alleging the deportations fall under the president’s Article II powers to remove alleged terrorists and execute the country’s foreign policy.

“The President’s action is lawful and based upon a long history of using war authorities against organizations connected to foreign states and national security judgments, which are not subject to judicial second guessing,” DOJ lawyers have argued in court filings.

Last week, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg temporarily blocked the president’s use of the law to deport more than 200 alleged gang members with no due process, calling the removals “awfully frightening” and “incredibly troublesome.” An official with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement subsequently acknowledged in a sworn declaration that “many” of the noncitizens deported last weekend under the Alien Enemies Act did not have criminal records in the United States.

The Trump administration is asking the appeals court to overturn Boasberg’s temporary restraining order blocking the deportations, while Judge Boasberg continues to examine whether the Trump administration deliberately defied his order by sending the men to an El Salvadoran prison rather than returning them to the United States as he directed.

“The government’s not being terribly cooperative at this point, but I will get to the bottom of whether they violated my order and who ordered this and what’s the consequence,” Boasberg said on Friday.

With deportations under the Alien Enemies Act temporarily blocked, the Trump administration has vowed to use other authorities to deport noncitizens. Over the weekend, Venezuelan National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez announced that the country had reached an agreement to resume repatriation flights of Venezuelan migrants from the U.S.

“We’re going to keep targeting the worst of the worst, which we’ve been doing since day one, and deporting from the United States through the various laws on the books,” border czar Tom Homan told ABC’s Jon Karl on Sunday.

The three-person panel hearing today’s arguments includes two judges nominated by Republican presidents, including one nominated by Trump himself. The D.C. Circuit is the last stop before the Trump administration could take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, where Trump nominated three judges during his last term, solidifying the court’s conservative majority.

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(POLK COUNTY, N.C.) — Evacuation orders were issued Sunday for parts of Polk County, North Carolina, where three large wildfires have burned more than 3,000 acres combined and two of the blazes remain out of control, according to authorities.

The three separate fires — the Black Cove Fire, Deep Woods Fire and the Fish Hook Fire — were all burning about 30 miles southeast of Ashville, according to the North Carolina Forest Service.

The fire ignited last week but grew rapidly over the weekend, fueled by low humidity and dry vegetation, officials said. The fires are burning in an area where Hurricane Helene swept through in September, leaving behind numerous downed trees, which are also helping to fuel the fires, officials said.

The Black Cove Fire had burned 2,076 acres and was 0% contained as of Sunday night, according to Kelly Cannon, spokesperson for Polk County government. The Deep Woods Fire was also 0% contained on Sunday after burning 2,545 acres, Cannon said.

Evacuation orders issued Saturday evening by the North Carolina Department of Public Safety remained in effect Sunday for residents in the area of the Black Cove Fire, officials said.

The Fish Hook Fire in Polk County was 50% contained on Sunday, after burning 199 acres, Cannon said. Evacuation orders were lifted Sunday, allowing residents to return to their homes.

The causes of the fires remain under investigation.

Due to multiple wildfires in the area, the North Carolina Division of Air Quality issued a “Code Red” alert signaling unhealthy air for Polk County, and a “Code Orange” in Rutherford County, signaling unhealthy air for people sensitive to smoke.
South Carolina wildfires

Wildfires extended into neighboring South Carolina, prompting Gov. Henry McMaster to declare a state of emergency on Saturday.

A wildfire in the Table Rock State Park on the South Carolina-North Carolina border in Pickens County, South Carolina, started on Friday night and quickly spread to 35 acres, according to McMaster.

On Sunday, the Table Rock Fire had grown to 110 acres, according to Pickens County Emergency Management. Information on how much of the fire has been contained as of Sunday afternoon was not immediately available.

McMaster said his executive order declaring a state of emergency for the Table Rock Fire area will help bolster resources for firefighters working to contain the blaze. The governor said his order includes a statewide ban on residents setting outdoor fires until further notice.

“Given the elevated risk of wildfires throughout the state, the statewide burning ban will remain in effect until further notice. Anyone who violates this ban can and will go to jail,” McMaster said.

It’s the second time this month that McMaster declared a state of emergency in his state due to wildfires. A series of wildfires broke out during the weekend of March 2 and 3 in the Carolina Forest near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, in Horry County, quickly spreading to more than 1,600 acres and threatening the communities of Walkers Woods and Avalon before firefighters brought the blaze under control, according to the South Carolina Forest Commission.

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