The Quarry Road Fire in Brunswick County is now considered 100 percent contained, according to the N.C. Forest Service.
NCFS Spokesperson Christie Adams said in a briefing today (Aug. 6) that the 283-acre fire now poses no escape risk and requires “no further action” from firefighters. The fire was first reported July 10, and at its height required equipment and personnel from six counties, including Columbus and Horry, along with aerial apparatus and heavy equipment. Several buildings were damaged or destroyed, along with a number of vehicles. Several hundred residents were evacuated at one point.
A more complete investigation had determined that the fire likely was a “holdover” fire from a lightning strike May 28 that smoldered in the vegetative soil – commonly called peat or duff. Holdover fires can remain undetected for weeks while they burn underground, Adams explained, since they typically show no open flames.
“Because this duff is more tightly packed and has less oxygen than surface litter,” Adams wrote, “duff typically smolders instead of flaming. When it’s wet, it’s not as receptive to fire. When it dries out, it can burn underground, smoldering, slowly spreading without flames for days, even weeks.”
The ongoing drought conditions created a perfect environment for the fire, due to the dry conditions and lack of soaking rains. Conditions can create powerful isolated storms that produce thunder, lighting and rainfall, but the rain from a brief storm is often not enough to counteract underground fires.
With wooded areas full of storm debris from previous hurricanes, and the forest floor covered in pine straw, leaves and smaller branches, the fire had plenty of fuel and excellent conditions to burn.
Another large wildfire continues to burn in Kelly in Bladen County, according to the NCFS. The Over Lyon Road Fire – -which is thought to have also started from a lightning strike – is at 85 percent containment and has burned 114 acres. That fire is in an isolated wooded area with dense Carolina Bays, and poses no threat to buildings or farm property at this time.
Parts of Brunswick County and a small area of Columbus remain in the exceptional drought category in the latest N.C. Drought Monitor report. Much of Columbus is still considered in extreme drought, with areas roughly west and north of the Green Swamp in the Severe level.
Rainfall levels remain dangerously low for many areas, and the wildfire risk is listed as high for all of Columbus County.
