Sunset Road Fire burned over 1,300 acres, cause still being investigated
BOILING SPRING LAKES, NC (WWAY) — In Brunswick County, firefighters continue to deal with the Sunset Road Fire, which started Friday morning in Boiling Spring Lakes.
While the fire has been contained in some areas, crews are still working hard to keep it from spreading further.
Large swaths of burned trees and charred underbrush are all that remain in some areas scorched by the Sunset Road Fire — which continues to burn.
The fire started as a small brush fire Friday morning on the west side of Boiling Spring Lakes.
High winds quickly pushed the flames north and the fire has now burned more than 1,300 acres.
Late Monday afternoon, it was only 10% contained.
Jonathan Ambrose with the North Carolina Forest Service explained what that containment means:
“When we call this fire contained as a percentage, that means that percentage of that fire line, we have no chance of that fire escaping. So when we use the term contained, we feel very confident that the fire won’t escape on that section of the line or that percentage of the perimeter,” Ambrose explained.
The fire jumped across Highway 87 — forcing hundreds of residents on the east side of the city to receive evacuation notices.
Chastity Roe — who asked not to be shown on camera — was asked to evacuate. She was frustrated to learn the main roads out were blocked.
“You’ve got East Boiling Springs Road, they’ve been working on it for two years now. That’s a detour road now, you can’t go through it. You have Dosher Road, they closed it. The main road that goes even behind the Tiger Mart alongside of 87, that’s closed,” Roe said.
Boiling Spring Lakes Mayor Jeff Winecoff says construction on East Boiling Springs Road should be finished soon and it will soon be viable as a detour or emergency exit.
He added that the city will work with the fire department to improve emergency preparedness in the future.
“There’s always what did you do well and what do you need to do better? So we will do the same thing here. We’ll try to figure out what we need to do better. I’ve heard a lot of citizens say the communication wasn’t what it should be. So we’ll look at them things and see what we need to do,” Winecoff shared.
The shelter at South Brunswick High School has been closed following the lifting of evacuation notices over the weekend.
The cause of the fire is still being investigated.
