West Virginia wildfires: National Guard and rain help to battle blazes, see map of fires

Much needed rain enters the forecast in West Virginia after the state has been battling uncontrollable wildfires since Wednesday.

The West Virginia Emergency Management Division posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the state is receiving rainfall after days of poor air quality and outbursts of wildfires across the state.

The organization thanked the first responder that have been helping with the containment of the fires and hopes that the rain will give them a, "day of rest."

On Friday, the West Virginia National Guard sent two helicopters on a trip to douse the wildfires in Hardy County. During the rip, the National Guard was able to complete 143 Bambi Bucket sorties, which was roughly 95,000 gallons of water, according to an X post by the WV National Guard.

Virginia wildfire map: See where fires are blazing as some areas deal with road closures

Wildfires broke out in Virginia, West Virginia and parts of Maryland

Wildfires broke out in northern and northwestern Virginia Wednesday.

The NWS office in Blacksburg issued a special weather statement at 6:30 a.m. ET Thursday that urged residents in parts of Virginia and West Virginia to exercise caution handling any potential ignition source.

"Despite diminishing winds, the combination of low relative humidity values between 15 to 20 percent, northwest to northerly winds of 10 mph with gusts up to 20 mph, and dry fuels will again result in an increased fire danger for portions of southwest Virginia and southeast West Virginia," the statement reads.

The NWS office that serves Baltimore and Washington, D.C. issued an elevated fire danger on Thursday for portions of Maryland, Virginia and eastern West Virginia.

Shenandoah National Park posted notices Wednesday regarding road closures, trail closures and a fire ban due to the conditions. A large portion of Skyline Drive was closed, and the park had temporarily banned the building, attending, maintaining or using of an open fire anywhere within the boundaries of the park.

National tv personality has personal connection, sends 'thank you' to volunteer firefighters

During the show "CBS Mornings" on Friday, anchor Tony Dokoupil took a moment to thank volunteer firefighters across the country, but especially those who are fighting the wildfires in West Virginia.

"A big thank you to volunteer firefighters all over the country and in particular in West Virginia, Paw Paw, West Virginia, Hampshire County. My mom has lived there for 25 years," Dokoupil on CBS Mornings.

Dokoupil shared that his mother, who is living at their family home Dokoupil and his step father built when he was younger, was in the middle of a fire that broke out at her neighbor's home.

"I got a call from my mom on Thursday, hysterical out of her mind scared, I've never heard my mom like that. And it's because this farmhouse, all those memories were threatened by terrible wildfires in this part of West Virginia," Dokoupil said.

"The governor declared a state of emergency this is less than a mile from her house she was not sure if she was gonna keep that home," Dokoupil said.

Dokoupil said that three of his mom's neighbors lost their homes to the wildfires.

Virginia wildfire map

US wildfire, smoke map

Contributing: Gabe Hauari, USA TODAY

Ahjané Forbes is a reporter on the National Trending Team at USA TODAY. Ahjané covers breaking news, car recalls, crime, health, lottery and public policy stories. Email her at aforbes@gannett.com. Follow her on Instagram, Threads and X @forbesfineest.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: West Virginia wildfires: National Guard joins in fight, see map