Wildfires threaten homes, businesses . . . in North Carolina?
I got a firsthand taste of just how windy it was this afternoon, as i foolishly chose today to climb up on the roof and clean out the gutters. But i was still surprised to read this:
Or this:
We've long appreciated a temperate climate with adequate, even rainfall in North Carolina. Those extremes of drought, fire, floods, and mudslides were, we thought, a West Coast phenomenon.
Looks like we may have been mistaken.
In North Carolina, winds gusting up to 60 mph in some areas toppled trees and power lines and also fanned brush fires across the state.
The Willow Spring Free Will Baptist Church in Cleveland, N.C., just south of Raleigh, was holding a worship service when a fire forced it to evacuate, the town's Fire Chief Chris Ellington said.
Or this:
Interstate 85 near the Vance-Granville county line was closed Sunday afternoon and traffic detoured because of a wildfire that jumped into the median, the State Highway Patrol said. That fire burned about 20 acres, said Forest Resources spokesman Brian Haines.
The Department of Transportation said Interstate 40 in Guilford County was closed because of fallen power lines blamed on the high winds, the Associated Press reported.
In Johnston County, about 60 firefighters responded to a fire that threatened 20 homes. None were lost and no injuries were reported, though a church was evacuated during a service and two empty barns burned down, fire authorities said.
A 20-acre fire was burning in Alamance as well, Haines said. “Pretty much all district personnel and equipment is committed across the state,” Haines said. Winds were so high that many of the division’s fire-fighting aircraft were unable to take off, adding to the difficulty, he said.
We've long appreciated a temperate climate with adequate, even rainfall in North Carolina. Those extremes of drought, fire, floods, and mudslides were, we thought, a West Coast phenomenon.
Looks like we may have been mistaken.
Labels: weather
Since 1949, Durhamites have slept soundly, secure in the knowledge that, in our town, erection can be depended upon. Now, thanks to the power of the internets, we can spread that security all over the world.
5 Comments:
It took us 3 hours to get past 3 exits on I-85 near Henderson last night. It doesn't often feel like there is so much traffic on that stretch of I-85, but try merging two lanes onto one exit to travel on a side road, and what a mess! We could smell the fires and saw (only) smoke. The funniest sight was a young man who was doing the "I could walk faster than this" and did... right down the center line. And where we were in Northern NC, the volunteer fire department was called out FOUR times during our visit of a few hours. That is big.
By
Valerie at We Love Durham, at 7:00 AM
I was just north of the border at VIR near Milton, NC, and we had to contend with 2 brush fires at the track caused by a car simply driving off onto the grass and stopping for less than 30 seconds.
So yeah, don't park a hot car on the grass, insta-fire.
B
By
Unknown, at 10:21 AM
You forgot to blame George Bush.
By
Locomotive Breath, at 11:04 AM
This comment has been removed by the author.
By
Dan S., at 10:33 AM
Speaking of VIR, a dead pine tree, from my neighbor's yard, nailed my SpecE30 race car, whilst it was parked in the driveway during the high winds.
Thankfully, the house and the new 4Runner were spared (although there is a tiny dent in the hood of the 4R).
Anyone got a spare 1987 325iS fender? :(
By
Dan S., at 10:35 AM
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