Blaze at North Carolina wildlife refuge burns 20,000 acres

STUMPY POINT, N.C. 

From behind the counter of the only store in town, John Butler swore the gray ash had fallen like snow the day before. As he spoke Monday, clouds of dense smoke billowed from the tops of trees across the bay.

"We've seen a lot of fires out here," said Butler, an 11-year resident. "But nothing quite like this."

So far, the blaze that's been labeled the worst wildfire in Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge history has burned more than 20,000 acres of forested wetlands since Thursday. Fanning the flames have been strong winds and low humidity, conditions that made suppression efforts especially difficult for local authorities.

The fire's origin remains under investigation, and officials have cited arson and human carelessness as possible causes. Tom Crews, fire management officer for the refuge, told The Associated Press that "from the air, there were three fires spotted in one location, and that is suspicious."

The fire grew from 2,000 acres Friday to 15,000 acres by Saturday night, and flames came within two or three miles of the community. At night, "it looks like the world's on fire," said Kenny Sheppard, the one customer at the Stumpy Point Trading Post on Monday afternoon.

As the flames inched closer, officials temporarily evacuated residents of the two most vulnerable homes, said Bill Sweet, spokesman for the national incident response team that took command of firefighting efforts Monday.

Evacuation remains a possibility for the 220 or so residents of Stumpy Point, a tiny fishing village on Dare County mainland.

On Monday afternoon, Sweet characterized the threat to Stumpy Point as "moderate."

If winds continue to blow sparks toward the town, Stumpy Point Volunteer Fire Department Deputy Chief Curtis Price said, he wants to be prepared. Local and county officials have been going door-to-door to speak with residents and see what assistance might be needed in the case of an evacuation.

"I would rather have a good, solid plan in place and not have to use it," Price said.

Sweet said the team is primarily using a method called "burnouts" to fight the fire. When weather conditions cooperate, a blaze would be ignited to burn toward the wildfires - eventually smothering them with lack of fuel, Sweet said.

"As long as we have the wind at our back," he said, "it's going to put the fire out."

Weather permitting, the team plans to set another burnout fire this morning.

Crews also told The Associated Press that the absence of the state-owned CL 215 "Super Scooper" amphibious aircraft has hampered efforts. The plane, designed to gulp up to 3,000 gallons of water per trip directly from a water source and dump it on the fire, has been mothballed by the state because of a lack of funding for upgrades and repairs.

"If we'd had the CL 215, we'd have been able to stop this fire by now, there's no doubt in my mind," Crews said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Erin James, (252) 441-1711, erin.james@pilotonline.com