So on the eve of a national holiday celebrated in cul-de-sacs, in parks and on beaches with salvos of sparklers, glow worms and more potent -- but illegal -- fireworks from south of the Carolina border, state forestry officials stepped up a campaign to prevent a further fanning of the flames.

Last month, the state Division of Forest Resources deployed a pair of "fire prevention education teams" in Morganton and Elizabeth City. The PR campaign, on which the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources expects to spend about $70,000, aims to help local fire agencies spread the word on reducing the number of wildfires unwittingly sparked by campers, farmers and folks using fireworks.

"Even if they manage to prevent at least one major wildfire from starting, we will have recouped the cost," said Brian Haines, a spokesman for the state Division of Forest Resources.

Today, a National Wildfire Prevention Education team will attend Apex's "Olde Fashion 4th of July" event to distribute prevention materials.

More than 3,300 wildfires have been documented in the state already this year, and extremely dry conditions across the state have extended the threat well beyond the traditional spring season, forestry officials said. Wildfires are a risk to North Carolina homeowners because the state has one of the nation's highest total acreages with homes built on land where there's a heightened risk of rogue blazes.

Sparked by lightning June 1, the wildfire in and around the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in northeastern North Carolina has consumed more than 41,000 acres by itself.That exceeds the total acreage burned by the 7,260 documented wildfires that blazed across the state last year.

The fire continues to creep across the wildlife refuge, burning deep into the peat soil that fuels it. Efforts to contain it have pulled in firefighters from across the state and beyond.

Jim Schlenker, the assistant district forester for the district encompassing Johnston, Harnett, Cumberland and three other counties, said about 15 of the 50 firefighters available to his district have been pulled away to help with the refuge fire.

"We're stretched thin," Schlenker said Wednesday. "We're basically down to a minimum number of people. Basically, everybody [left] is on call."

The state Division of Forest Resources does not specify the number of wildfires started specifically by fireworks. Last year in North Carolina, however, 1,476 of the 7,260 wildfires were caused by incendiary devices, a category that includes fireworks. Debris-burning typically is the most common cause of wild fires. Last year, 2,461 of the wildfires fell under this category.

The education teams in Morganton and Elizabeth City spent this week distributing pamphlets and educational materials about issues such as campfire safety and landscaping strategies to create a "defensible space" around the increasing number of homes in wooded areas prone to wildfires. And while encouraging people to attend public fireworks displays, the teams have also sought to distribute fliers on fireworks safety at public events and stands for the limited number of fireworks legal in North Carolina.

Sarah Griffith, team leader for the fire prevention team in Morganton, said it's difficult to get people to envision a Fourth of July without fireworks.

"I don't know how many times we've heard people just want to have fireworks on the Fourth of July, and that it's 'not the Fourth of July' without them," said Griffith, a specialist for Washington state's Department of Natural Resources. "It's rare to have wildfires burning [here] this time of year. It's taxing the agency and taxing the wildfire-suppression folks so much that we need to get the message out that people can't be reckless with burning debris and fireworks this time of year because it's so much drier than normal."

Within the Triangle, area fire marshals have issued public statements encouraging people to refrain from lighting their own fireworks while offering safety tips for the many who will still do so. Most fireworks remain illegal in the state. Except sparklers and fountain cones that spray a shower of colorful sparks, fireworks that explode, spin, fly or leave the ground are illegal to buy in North Carolina.

That doesn't stop people from buying them in South Carolina, fire marshals acknowledge, and bringing them back home.

"From our perspective, that's a law-enforcement function, and as often as that happens, enforcement is very limited because there is so much of it out there," said Charlie Johnson, Wake County's chief deputy fire marshal. "Just a select few get caught."

Fireworks are prohibited at the state's Jordan Lake campgrounds, where Kevin Bryant and his cousin Winfred Wicker, a retired firefighter, set up camp this week with their families. They brought a pontoon boat and fishing gear along with their RV trailers from their homes in Cumnock, but Wicker and his wife, Kay, said they knew better than to pack sparklers for their three grandchildren for the weekend trip. Bryant said he doubted there would be any fireworks set this weekend at the lake's crowded Poplar Point camp site.

"You won't hear any firecrackers going off around the campground," said Bryant, a detective with the Sanford Police Department. "The rangers would stop that before it got going."