‘It’s a game of chess;’ Fire crews face complex fight against Cape Fear wildfires amid drought
ATKINSON, N.C. (WWAY) — Pine cones, pine needles and dry leaves are helping fuel wildfires across southeastern North Carolina, including a persistent fire at Whitehall Plantation in Pender County.
“It’s a game of chess, sometimes it feels like the fire is a step ahead of you,” said Philip Jackson, public information officer for the North Carolina Forest Service.
Jackson said battling wildfires like the one in Atkinson is complex, especially as some residents report lingering smoke odors.
“Which is actually the burning of the organic soils that are beneath the surface,” Jackson said.
The fire at Whitehall Plantation was initially extinguished in early April but later reignited, burning about 275 acres. Officials say the fire is now about 30% contained, but it could take months before it is fully controlled.
“They’re not going to be completely out until we get some substantial rainfall,” Jackson said. “And so a lot of monitoring, a lot of mop up, a lot of babysitting if you will.”
Even when rain arrives, storms could create new risks. Jackson said lightning strikes in rural areas can go unnoticed and spark additional fires.
“Eastern North Carolina has a lot of farmland and the land is very spaced out and spread out and we have 2,000 and 4,000 and 5,000 acre blocks of land in some places and so if lightning strikes in the middle of that area, chances are nobody is going to see it,” he said.
He added that strong winds associated with storms can also worsen wildfire conditions by knocking down trees and adding fuel to existing fires.
“As those snags, the trees and the branches and the leaves, they fall into these areas where the heat is already established, the heat’s just going to burn those up. And so that’s going to keep the heat source present,” Jackson said.
As the Cape Fear region awaits significant rainfall, Jackson said it will take time and a substantial amount of precipitation to reduce wildfire risk.
“We’re going to need to see some substantial rainfall for these water tables to get back to normal,” he said. “So when you think of the surface, as we get drier and drier, those water tables, they get lower and lower. And so the soil that remains here, it’s just bone dry and it’s highly flammable.”
