Crews battle Leland brush fire

BRUNSWICK COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — Leland Fire/Rescue and N.C. Forest Service were on the scene of a brush fire off Lincoln Road near Playground Way early Monday afternoon.

According to Leland Fire/Rescue, the fire started just before 1pm on Monday.

A portion of Lincoln Road was closed and several Playground Way homes had to be evacuated, with one showing signs of radiant fire damage.

Since crews arrived on the scene, the fire has grown to between 25 and 30 acres.

Leland Deputy Fire Chief Buddy Brooks said there were concerns as they monitored the fire.

“The heat obviously, for our personnel, trying to make sure we cycle personnel out, nobody gets overheated,” Brooks said. “Making sure there’s no spot fires from this obviously because embers can travel. And other than that, we’re working on getting it contained.”

N.C. Forest Service said it used aircraft to drop water on the fire, with crews from Winnabow, Boiling Spring Lakes, Southport, and Tri-City also responding to the fire.

Gisselle Morales had to evacuate her home around 2 in the afternoon, not returning until around 8 pm.

She said it was scary having to leave her home behind.

“Yeah, it was, especially cause I have a baby so I had to situate everything and make sure I got everything important to get out of here,” Morales said. “It was kind of scary. I did ask if everything was fine, if everything’s going to be controlled and they were very nice in saying that everything was going to be okay, just to not scare us. But it was a little bit frightening.”

Brooks said the cause of the fire is still under investigation. He also says while there is not a burn ban in place, that residents should refrain from burning anything due to dry conditions.