As winds continue to fan the flames of wildfires in Western North Carolina, crews from the Wrightsville Beach Fire Department extended their stay to help protect houses, hotels and other structures. Though first scheduled to arrive back on Saturday, crews from Wrightsville Beach will assisting the fight against the mountainous wildfires through Tuesday and should be back on Wednesday, said Fire Chief Glen Rogers.
Crews from the WBFD traveled to the Lake Lure area with a fire engine on Saturday, Nov. 13 after the N.C. Fire Marshall requested help from across the state to fight the growing wildfire. The Wilmington, New Hanover County and Leland fire departments are among the local departments that also sent crews and equipment.
Wildland firefighting is fundamentally different than structural firefighting, which is how WBFD firefighters are trained, so the local crews were assigned to protect buildings in the fire’s path, Rogers said.
“Some of these houses are in the middle of the woods. We sit on the house to make sure the fire doesn’t come up to it,” Rogers said. “We protect it by being there, having water and radio available. We’re committed to not letting any structures be destroyed.”
WBFD maintained a rotating crew of firefighters, with at least three crews of four traveling out to fight the fire known as the Party Rock Fire. The crews would work in 12 hour shifts, with WBFD firefighters taking the night shifts.
While the crews started the deployment sleeping in the command center tent, they soon moved to a nearby vacation home owned by a local resident, who let crews from Wrightsville Beach and Wilmington sleep there in between shifts.
The WBFD crews got some “eye opening” briefings on the dangers they could face fighting the mountainside fires. For example, the fire can fell trees, sending burning logs rolling down the hill that could strike structures or equipment. The fire can also loosen rocks that slide down the slopes.
The WBFD crews had their first assignment in Chimney Rock, where they protected a hotel, and then moved to protect the Falls Country Motel in Lake Lure the following night, where the fire got within about 50 yards of the structure, but didn’t reach it. The crews then moved to the area around Bat Cave, where they stood guard over a house that Rogers described as “in the middle of nowhere.” The structures had been abandoned, but Rogers said that the work of at least 300 firefighters and 88 pieces of apparatus from around the state has so far prevented any structures from being destroyed.
Rogers said his firefighters were eager to help, as they understood that the same crews they were helping now could one day be deployed to Wrightsville Beach to help in the event of a hurricane or major storm.
The crews have so far gotten two notes of appreciation from the locals — one a hand-drawn card from a child and another full-page note of thanks from an adult — and the women of one small town brought the crew dinner at 2 a.m.
With WBFD sending one truck and a rotating crew of four, Rogers said his main concern was making sure that Wrightsville Beach remained well protected. The department still had the two ladder trucks, which Rogers said would be critical for any local fire, and that volunteers that couldn’t make the journey west stepped up to make sure that the town’s fire defenses were robust.
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