Fire in NC continues to grow

The fire in North Carolina has jumped the lines again and is now 28,985 acres, or 45 square miles. It has the potential to grow to at least 50,000 acres and has forced the evacuation of 70 homes according to the NC Division of Forest Resources. About half the fire is burning on the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge and about half is on private land in Hyde, Tyrrell and Washington counties.

One of the challenges for the firefighters is the peat-filled soil which can be up to 8 feet deep. It is very difficult to put in a fireline when the combustible fuel goes that far below the surface of the earth. They are using 23 tractor plows which are sometimes building fire lines up to 40-feet wide, but the fire finds a way to burn across the lines.

Yesterday they had one large air tanker assigned to the fire. The InciWeb page on the fire is not updated very frequently.

Here is a map of the fire showing heat detected by satellites, updated this afternoon, 6/6/2008. Click on it to see a larger version.