Fireworks weren’t the only flames in the sky over the July 4 weekend in Columbus County.
Firefighters in Riegelwood, Nakina and Tabor City responded to brush fires in several areas. Columbus County Fire Marshall Shannon Blackman said Tabor City firefighters were called to a particularly stubborn blaze at South Columbus High School that required the assistance of the Forest Service. That fire smoldered in a mulched area until it began actively burning Sunday morning.
Nakina Fire and Rescue also required the Forest Service Sunday morning. In a post on social media, NVFR said units were dispatched at 10:02 a.m. to the 9300 block of Seven Creeks Highway.
NFR responded with Brush 10, Squad 10, and Tanker 10, along with personnel from the Forest Service.
A burning field was threatening a thickly wooded area nearby. Crews extinguished the blaze before it could spread into the adjacent woods.
Acme Delco Riegelwood Firefighters are continuing to monitor a blaze in that district that torched 18 acres off Old Lake Road near Holly Tree Drive. That fire is thought to have been started by fireworks Friday night.
Lightning may have sparked a 50-acre wildfire in the Kelly community of Bladen County. The Forests Service has that fire listed with zero containment.
No burn bans have been issued for Columbus County. The county is on average 12 inches below normal rainfall, for the year, on top of a deficit from 2025.
