Wildfire smoke in Triangle will linger through Thursday

MANTEO -- Drifting smoke from a persistent 21,000-acre fire in Dare County has prompted North Carolina officials to extend an air pollution advisory across an even broader swath of the state.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources says people from the coast through the Triangle to the Triad could experience unhealthy air quality on Wednesday and Thursday.

The fire is burning in the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in Dare and Hyde counties.

The smoke from the fire contains high levels of particle pollution. The counties close to the blaze are most affected, but unhealthy particle levels have been detected as far away as Goldsboro and Raleigh.

The advisory means people should reduce heavy exertion outdoors, especially those who are sensitive to air pollution.

On Tuesday, the smoke from a 21,000-acre fire in Dare County is showing up on NASA satellite images and has traveled as far west as the Raleigh-Durham area, state air quality officials said.

"We've been getting calls from the Triangle about smoky smells out of the east," said Tom Mather, a spokesman for the air quality division. He said measures of particulate pollution in the Raleigh area are higher than normal, "although not what we would consider unhealthy."

NASA satellite pictures taken Monday showed smoke trailing off the coast over the Atlantic Ocean.

Mather says winds have since shifted, blowing more of the smoke toward the state's interior.

The fire was discovered about 2 p.m. Thursday in the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge. Fire investigators have not been able to verify a cause for the blaze because the area is too hot to safely enter, said Bill Sweet, public information officer for the national incident response team that is coordinating the firefighting effort. Possibilities range from random lightning strikes to arson.

Stumpy Point at risk

The refuge is largely forested wetlands and bog, which creates a denser smoke than a typical wildfire, Mather said.

Firefighters have been dumping water from aircraft onto the fire and using heavy machinery to clear potential fuel from the surrounding area. More than a dozen fire engines are also on site.

Sweet said they have the fire about 40 percent contained.

Winds have pushed the fire in the direction of Stumpy Point, a fishing village of about 1,000 residents. Sweet said firefighters spent most of Tuesday trying to protect the town with a back-burn, a technique that uses a separate, controlled fire to combat the original fire. When they meet, both fires go out, Sweet explained.

The burn-out started Monday but had to be abandoned that afternoon when winds shifted and made the effort risky, Sweet said.

U.S. 264 remained closed between Stumpy Point and Engelhard on Tuesday.