Living here on the coast of North Carolina, I did not think I would ever be in the vicinity of a forest fire. Yet, here I am living only about 20 miles from the largest forest fire currently burning in the United States. Thick smoke surrounds our home – the smell is awful.

Burning in wooded areas and farmland, the fire has burned about 42,000 acres. The soil where the fire is burning is very high in organic matter, thus the soil is actually burning. Reports are that the soil is burning down two to three feet. After the fire moves through, trees are left with exposed roots. Fire fighters are using water from a couple of surrounding lakes to flood the land in an effort to stop the spread of the fire. Winds have not been cooperating the last few days. Now in three counties, the fire increased just yesterday by 17%. Today smoke can be seen as far inland as Greenville, NC, nearly 75 miles from the fire.

Amidst very dense smoke and record breaking heat, farmers close to the blaze are frantically trying to get their wheat harvested. As soon as fields are harvested, forest service personnel are burning them in an effort to stop the fire once it gets to the field. In one area, there were only about 20 feet between the fire and a no-till soybean field. The farmer “babysat” the fire all that day, plowing the flames when they would jump into the beans.

In this county, there are five volunteer fire departments. Many of the firemen in these departments are farmers in this county. They have all been put on standby in case they are needed. Forestry Service personnel and Firemen from other fire departments across the state have come to the county to fight the fire. Temporary medical facilities have been set up at the high school. Church work crews have come in to help if they are needed. It’s been amazing to see the kindness of the people who have come here to do whatever necessary in fighting this fire.

It's the 17th day of the fire and firefighters are making progress in stopping its spread. It was announced today that the fire was 70% contained.

The Forest Service is using large volume pumps, 24 hours a day, to flood the organic soil that is literally burning. After an area is flooded, the pumps are moved to another area and the process begins again.

Though there is still much smoke, it is refreshing to know that the fire is beginning to be under control!