Smoke from NC wildfire leads to Code Red air quality warning

RALEIGH -- Smoke from a massive wildfire in far eastern North Carolina that has drifted hundreds of miles to the west is having a much worse effect on air quality that originally forecast. The state Division of Air Quality issued a Code Red notice for Thursday and Friday for the Triangle area of Raleigh, Chapel Hill and Durham, as well as the Rocky Mount area. A Code Red means the air quality is forecast to be generally unhealthy. An air quality division spokesman said the state's monitors are "just off the charts." The North Carolina wildfire has burned more than 39,000 acres - upward of 60 square miles - in and around the Pocosin Lakes Wildlife Refuge since a lightning strike ignited the blaze June 1 on privately owned land. (Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)