Crews from the Wrightsville Beach Fire Department returned home early Tuesday morning after more than week in Western North Carolina, where they were deployed to help protect houses, hotels and other structures.
WBFD sent a crew of at least four firefighters and a fire engine on Saturday, Nov. 13 to the Lake Lure area, where nearly 1,000 firefighters from around the country were battling a wildfire that spanned more than 7,000 acres. WBFD rotated crews into the mountainous region, as at least 12 full-time and volunteer firefighters from the town took part in the fight over the nine-day span.
The Wilmington, New Hanover County and Leland fire departments are among the local departments that also sent crews and equipment.
And while most crews rotated in and out, volunteer firefighter Tom Long stayed throughout the deployment. The experience gave him the opportunity to get closer to a fire than the four year volunteer had even been – even after being on scene at last May’s King’s Beachwear fire in Wrightsville Beach.
“At one point, I was close enough to touch it if I wanted,” said Long, noting that he worked mostly in a support role at the King’s fire, which kept him further away from the flames.
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, WBFD Fire Chief Glen 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.”
Long said it was “completely different” to witness wildland firefighting, where officials used strategy to keep the fire contained.
“We we see a fire, we put it out right away,” Long said. “There, they let it burn to rob the fire of its fuel.”
WBFD maintained a rotating crew of firefighters, with at least three crews of four traveling out. The crews would work in 12 hour shifts, with WBFD firefighters taking the night shifts to monitor the fire known as the Party Rock Fire.
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.
“The shops would give us free coffee, people would bring us food at 5 a.m.,” Long said. “Having the support from everybody, everywhere, it was a really great experience.”
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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