Local crew helps fight western NC wildfires
RANDOLPH COUNTY — Two local firefighters with a firetruck are helping battle one of the large wildfires in western North Carolina this week.
Guil-Rand Fire Department Lt. Tyler Myers and firefighter Bryan Roberts went to Polk County on Tuesday to help crews counter the Black Cove wildfire. The two men are among firefighters from across the state who have volunteered to provide mutual aid requested by North Carolina fire officials.
'We try to help out whenever we can,' Guil-Rand Fire Chief Luke Richardson said. 'The folks out west are our neighbors and it's a time when they are in need.'
Collectively, the Black Cove Fire, Deep Woods Fire and Fish Hook Fire in Polk County have burned more than 6,200 acres, destroyed 22 structures, prompted evacuations and put one firefighter in the hospital, the county and N.C. Forest Service said. A new fire was reported Thursday in Swain County that already had grown to more than 900 acres.
The fires are rapidly growing due to a glut of fuel created in late September by Hurricane Helene that rapidly dried in the unusually low humidity that has prevailed in the region through March, fire officials said. The fires have more than doubled in size since first being reported March 21.
Smoke plumes and red flames from the fires were intense enough to be recorded by infrared imaging onboard the NOAA/NASA Suomi-NPP satellite, NOAA reported.
Myers and Roberts are working an overnight 7 p.m. to 7 a.m shift, Richardson told The High Point Enterprise. Their duties include patrolling the perimeter of the fire zone to look for flames flaring along fire lines.
'They are also doing structural protection,' Richardson said. 'They would sit by homes and keep the fire away from the homes.'
The two firefighters are using a Guil-Rand Fire Department brush truck, which is a vehicle that has off-road capability.
Myers and Roberts are serving through Monday. Richardson said the Guil-Rand Fire Department may send additional crews this weekend or early next week to western North Carolina.
This is the second time in six months that the department has helped in western North Carolina. Crews went in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Helene.
pjohnson@hpenews.com | 336-888-3528 | @HPEpaul
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