WILMINGTON – Residents evacuated during a rapidly spreading brush fire in Wilmington late Monday afternoon are being told they can return home.
Shortly before 9 p.m., emergency dispatchers said that most of the roads affected by the blaze were open again. Only a stretch of 17th Street Extension between George Anderson Drive and Independence Boulevard still remained closed to traffic.
Officials reported at about 8 p.m. that they had the woods fire nearly fully contained and surrounded by break lines.
The fire flared up hours earlier. It burned more than 50 acres and prompted the evacuations of several residential streets.
A couple of homes were reportedly damaged by the fire, said Tim Smith, battalion chief with the Wilmington Fire Department.
He said the department had 65 firefighters working on the blaze along with help from county firefighters and the state forestry service.
The blaze started on the southside of 17th Street Extension and jumped the roadway, prompting emergency officials to send firefighting units to the Cameron Art Museum and the Pine Valley neighborhood to start evacuations.
“Obviously, they’re battling these winds, which makes things tough,” said Wilmington Master Firefighter Chris Walker.
Two N.C. Forestry Service helicopters circled the area to drop water over the woods, officials said.
Allen Bender, a retired firefighter who lives on Semmes Drive, turned on his sprinklers once he saw the smoke and was ready to evacuate with his Chihuahua, Zorro, in anticipation of the fire spreading toward him.
He watched the planes roaring overhead from his front yard.
“I’ve never seen a fire get out of control like this,” he said, adding that he had packed some things in his car but was prepared to leave most of his stuff behind.
Officials established a command post at the art museum and requested additional units from across the city to help battle the blaze.
About 50 visitors and staff members were asked to evacuate the art museum at about 5:30 p.m., said the museum’s Property and Security Manager, Johnnie McKoy.
Most of the evacuees were at the museum’s Zumba fitness class, he said.
The museum was scheduled to be open until 7 p.m.
McKoy, the museum’s director, Anne Brennan, and other museum personnel stood guard outside the threatened building as fire crews worked to protect it. The museum’s board of trustees also was meeting when the evacuation took place.
Brennan said the evacuees were able to leave museum property before Museum Drive was blocked off by the fire department.
Fire trucks worked to keep the blaze from getting any closer to the museum, Brennan said.
One crew used hoses to wet the wooded area in between the fire and the museum, while another attacked the blaze directly, she said.
“The wind was really driving it hard to Pine Valley, so it wasn’t blowing our way as much,” Brennan said. “But then it began to act erratically, so the fire department is really wetting down the woods between us and the fire. We’re most grateful.”
The wind that exacerbated the fire will decrease tonight, said Doug Hoehler from the National Weather Service’s Wilmington office, dropping down to about 10 miles per hour.
“Any type of wind is not going to be helpful,” he said.
Humidity will also drop down, but it will stay between 70 and 80 percent, Hoehler said. Higher humidity makes it harder for a fire to burn.