'Pains Bay Fire' spreading smoke across Eastern North Carolina | Eastern North Carolina Now

    This past week has filled several North Carolina counties with smoke produced from the Pains Bay wildfire in Dare/ Hyde County. The fire has attacked the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge located near the Outer Banks in Croatan, NC. Established in 1984, its purpose was to protect the unique type of wetland and the wildlife therein. The pocosin habitat types include high and low pocosin, bogs, fresh and brackish water marshes, hardwood swamps, and Atlantic white cedar swamps. The wildlife that lives and flourishes in this environment include black bear; concentrations of ducks, geese, and swans; wading birds; shorebirds; American woodcock; raptors; American alligators; white-tailed deer; raccoons; rabbits; quail; river otters; red-cockaded woodpeckers; and migrating songbirds, and is "core area" for re-establishing the red wolf back into the wild.

    The fire was discovered Thursday, May 5, 2011, and is suspected to have been started by lightning and could have been smoldering for several days before. It began in the wetlands between Pains and Parched Corn Bays on the south side of U.S. Highway 264 just south of Stumpy Point, NC. The fire quickly spread across the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge due to dry conditions and high winds, which also caused the smoke to spread across Eastern North Carolina. Then it breached the Dare County Range (DoD, U.S. Air Force) two days later. Despite efforts to contain and extinguish the wildfire, reports show that it has been steadily increasing in size. People have been working diligently to contain a fire that has covered thousands of acres. Air-quality warnings have been issued for many of the state's eastern counties, reaching as far as the Raleigh-Durham area. The following is a comprised list in ascending order of the damage and air-quality status.

Thursday, May 5
    • 225 acres have been burned
    • Plan to backburn 2800 acres in order to contain the fire within its ditch lines
    • Suspected lightning strike to be the cause of ignition

Friday, May 6
    • 2,000 acres by morning
    • Over 3,500 acres by nightfall
    • Type I national incident team has been called in for Saturday
        o There are five types of national incident teams; if a fire becomes complex, additional resources are called in to address the emergency and higher levels of management training and capability are required.
        o Type I team is a Federally or State-certified team; is the most robust IMT with the most training and experience.

Saturday, May 7
    • 7,00 acres burned

Sunday, May 8
    • 15,00 acres burned

Monday, May 9
    • 21,00 acres charred
    • Dense smoke and limited visibility has effected (8) counties
        o Beaufort, Hyde, Craven, Dare, Jones, Onslow, Pamlico, and Carteret
    • Is now 30% contained
    • Cause of fire is under investigation
        o Originally thought to have been caused by lightning; however, source of ignition has not yet been found
        o Arson or a simple accident are the top suspects

Tuesday, May 10
    • 21,00 acres consumed
    • 40% contained
    • 50% contained by nightfall
    • 138 people working to control the fire
    • Affected Counties and Cities/ Towns
        o Smoke:
            - Durham
        o Smell:
            - Greenville and Washington
        o Air-quality warning until Wednesday morning

Wednesday, May 11
    • 21,563 acres
    • 22,252 acres by nightfall
    • Affected Counties and Cities/ Towns
        o Smell/ Hazy:
            - Beaufort, Bertie, Pitt, Craven, Lenoir, and Martin Counties
        o Code Orange:
            - Carteret, Edgecomb, Martin, Nash, Onslow, and Wilson Counties
        o Code Red:
            - Southern Dare, Tyrrell, Martin, and Washington Counties
            - All of Beaufort, Craven, Greene, Hyde, Jones, Lenoir, Pamlico, and Pitt Counties
    • A 689-acre burn-out operation is planned, along with helicopters doing water drops
        o A burn-out operation is when a fire is set inside a control line in order to consume fuel between the edge of the fire and the control line.

Thursday, May 12
    • 22,252 acres remain affected
    • Air-quality monitors in Greenville, Jamesville and Tarboro were not reporting any results; these monitors can only read up to 200. Yet, Jamesville had been reporting air-quality ranges of 200 for several hours, which means that they were much higher than that.
    • Affected Counties and Cities/ Towns
        o Smell/ Hazy:
            - New Bern, Kinston, and Morehead City
        o Code Orange:
            - Carteret, Edgecomb, Martin, Nash, Onslow, and Wilson Counties
        o Code Red:
            - Southern Dare, Tyrrell, Martin, and Washington Counties
            - All of Beaufort, Craven, Greene, Hyde, Jones, Lenoir, Pamlico, and Pitt Counties

Friday, May 13
    • 25,678 acres
    • 55% contained
    • Over 200 people working to control the fire
    • Affected Counties and Cities/ Towns
        o Code Orange:
            - Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Dare, Gates, Hyde, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Tyrell, and Washington Counties
        o Intermittent Code Orange:
            - Greenville, Tarboro, and Roanoke Rapids
        o Inland smoke should improve
            -
Raleigh-Durham area
        o Air pollution advisory
            - North Eastern North Carolina
    • Successful 1,758 acre burn-out

Saturday, May 14
    • 25,678 acres
    • 75% contained
    • Ground fire is largest concern; could breach containment with strong winds
    • Affected Counties and Cities/ Towns
        o Code Red:
            - mainland Dare County
        o Likely Code Orange:
            - Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Pasquotank, Perquimans, and Tyrell Counties

Sunday, May 15
    • 25,678 acres
    • 80% contained
    • Fire investigators have discovered that a tree was "clearly struck by lightning" with all other possibilities ruled out.
    • Affected Counties and Cities/ Towns
        o Code Red:
            - Dare County

    The fire has already affected 25,678 acres out of the Refuge's total 152, 195 acres. Currently around 200 people, several helicopters, airplanes, dozers with blades and plows, water-pumping engines assist with controlling the fire. A key element in the prolonged state of the fire has been that the state-owned CL 215 "Super Scooper," an amphibious aircraft that can dump up to 3,000 gallons at a time, has not been able to be utilized. It has been out of service for several years and is estimated to need about $1.5 million in repairs. The biggest concern from the wildfire has been the smoke. Several air-quality warnings have been issued throughout the week for several counties. When such a warning is issued, it means that the air quality is below normal/ healthy levels and is dangerous to breathe. People with health issues, particularly regarding lung problems, have been highly advised to not partake in outdoor activities during this time. Health issues can arise from breathing this hazardous smoke, take precautions and notify a doctor if you begin having difficulties breathing.