Smoke from fires to pose threat to region’s air quality

By Ryan Hutchins

Shifting winds will send unhealthy smoke from two wildfires through Hampton Roads and northeastern North Carolina today, the National Weather Service and air quality officials predicted Friday.

Pollutant levels may reach Code Purple in areas of Hampton Roads and northeastern North Carolina, according to Tom Mathers, a spokesperson for the North Carolina Division of Air Quality.

“These are some of the highest levels of particle pollution we have ever recorded,” division director Keith Overcash said in a news release.

The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality was not predicting as severe a smoke problem, issuing a Code Orange, or unhealthy for sensitive groups.

Sensitive groups are those with heart conditions and respiratory problems. The levels range from yellow, which is moderate, to orange, red and purple.

Mathers said Friday that his division has recorded Code Red in cities nearly 250 miles away from the wildfire, which has burned about 40,000 acres in Hyde, Washington and Tyrrell counties.

John Jacobson, a National Weather Service incident meteorologist assigned to the North Carolina fire, said Friday that he expected winds to move toward the north this morning and shift toward the northeast by evening.

“Basically Saturday night through Monday, I’d expect the Outer Banks to get its share of the smoke,” he said.

The haze in the Hampton Roads area will likely be a combination of the North Carolina fire and one burning in the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge.

The Dismal Swamp fire has not grown significantly, but winds are expected to bring smoke north to the Suffolk Municipal Airport and surrounding area today, said Catherine Hibbard, a spokeswoman for the incident command team.

The winds are expected to shift this weekend, turning the smoke toward the Deep Creek area of Chesapeake, Hibbard said.

The fire, which started Monday, has burned 1,438 acres, according to an official count released Friday.

That total is up from reports of 900 to 1,000 acres in previous days, but the larger figure is due more to better technology in sizing the fire than to its actual growth, Hibbard said. It is about 18 percent contained, she said.

The North Carolina fire remains at 40 percent containment. With 530 personnel, the cost neared $2.3 million Friday evening, said Hannah Thompson, a spokesperson from the incident command center.

 Staff writer Dave Forster contributed to this story.

 Ryan Hutchins, (252) 441-1627, ryan.hutchins@pilotonline.com