Another fire burns in Pender County

Another Pender County fire still smolders in to the night Wednesday. The call came in at one o'clock Wednesday afternoon. Firefighters worked for hours to get the blaze under control.

The fire is contained but still not completely out. For the second time in three days, fire crews had to ask residents were asked to evacuate their homes.

"The fire trucks were coming down the road when I came home," Vicky Woodson, a Buck Shot Road resident said, "I asked them what I should do and they said that I needed to get some things and leave for a while."

The fire burned about 250 acres of woods between Highway 17 and Buck Shot Road in Hampstead; just mere miles from the wildfire that raged earlier this week.

The Division of Forestry says crews still working Monday's fire prevented this one from burning longer.

"It was kind of an advantage because the equipment was so close that we shifted some of the equipment over," Ned Berg of the Forestry Department said.

It took more than seven hours before crews could contain the blaze. It spread from 20 acres to more than 200. People were asked to leave their homes quickly. Hours later, they were told they could return.

"Happy. Relived. Tremendous relief," Cathy Wallace, a resident of Buck Shot Road said.

Investigators are still looking into the cause of the fire. They do have their suspicions.

"It would be speculation on our part right now so I'd rather not say right now on the cause," Ned Berg said.

What they can say is that no one was hurt and no homes were damaged.

Fire crews have suspended operations. There are people monitoring the situation overnight.