Thousands of acres charred, still burning

It was a weekend of fires that saw more than 10,000 acres burned in North Carolina. In the Hollister area more than 3,220 acres were burned with many of them still on fire. Thirty-six fires were burning in Halifax County alone. 

For the Littleton Volunteer Fire Department the first call came about 11 a.m. Sunday. The department was called to put out a shed fire. The fire was started by a bucket of ashes placed outside but close to the shed. The heavy winds took over from that point and in no time two sheds were on fire. 

Almost as soon as they brought that fire under control they were called to one on Justice Branch Road and that was the beginning of what turned out to be a long day and night for the department ending up in Hollister with other firefighters fighting six fires. They were part of a fire fighting effort that involved county, state and federal firefighters. 

Before the night was over fires would flare up throughout the Medoc Mountain and Hollister area. 

Winds recorded as high as 53 miles per hour by the national weather service fanned the fires that have stopped as of press time. Every fire department in the county was called out to work the fires. Thirteen departments were involved. 

In Littleton, one fire truck and firemen was left at the main station and substation as a precaution in case they were needed locally. 

When Monday morning came three new fires were blazing in the county according to Phil Ricks, Halifax County Emergency Management director. He said the fires probably will be flaring up all week.

More than 100 people were evacuated in the Hollister area on Sunday. The Twin Rivers Chapter of the American Red Cross set up a shelter at Hollister Elementary School. According to Lynwood Roberson, regional executive for the Red Cross, twelve people spent time at the shelter. The shelter was open from about 3 p.m. Sunday until 9:30 a.m. Monday.

“Many of the evacuated families found shelter with family and friends,” Ricks told the Observer.  Most of the evacuees came from the Medoc Mountain area. 

Fire Departments from Wilson and Warren County also responded. A total of three vehicles and 25 firefighters responded from those areas. By Monday morning most of the fire departments had returned to their home fire houses. Ten firefighters from the forestry service are in the region watching the area day and night until all fires are out.

When asked how they dealt with the flare-ups, Ricks stated that the North Carolina Forestry Services airplanes were doing continual fly overs to locate any flare-ups. In addition the property owners were keeping a close watch. When a flare up is spotted they call the firefighters back out to deal with them. 

There were only a couple of minor injuries to the firefighters and none to the property owners. Amazingly no houses were destroyed. A few houses had siding burned off or other minor damage according to Ricks. There were a few sheds and small out buildings destroyed as well as some vehicles.

Brian R. Haines, public information officer with the Division of Forest Resources, told the Observer that there were 423 fires over the weekend.  There were 10,146 acres burned. The ten-year average per year is 20,008 acres. 

High winds of more than 40 mph blew for several hours and led to fires all over the state.   “Almost half of our yearly average acres were burned over the weekend,” Haines stated.  He added that these were the biggest fires they could remember for this time of year.

Prior to last weekend there were 388 fires statewide that had burned only 1,127 acres.  The worst year for fires in North Carolina was in 1955 when 580,103 acres were burned. 

The state has been under severe or higher drought conditions for months. The lack of rain has led to dry timber on the ground. On Friday the Forestry Service cautioned against any burning over the weekend.

The combination of fuel for the fire, dry timber, and the high winds provided excellent for the fires. The National Weather Service was calling for the red flag alert this past  weekend due to high winds and low humidity. Red flag warnings are issued by the National Weather Service to call attention to weather conditions that may result in extreme burning conditions.