In 2001 Dare County and North Carolina experienced the driest Fall fire season any of us can remember. And because of that we saw a large increase in the number of wildfires. The NC Forest Service, Dare County Unit was dispatched to 123 calls last year. We took action on 51 of those fires. And with the help of some of the strongest volunteer fire department organizations in the state, we were able to hold the fires to an average of 1.34 acres per fire. The remaining 72 fires of the 123 were handled entirely by the fire departments at less than one-tenth acre each. This is a statistical number we are very proud of. Although we had several structures that were threatened by wild fires, none were lost in 2001.

By being located at the airport we, with the help of the Airport Management, the Dare County Fire Marshal and the Dare County Water Department, were able to set up a system to load Forest Service Air Tankers here at the airport. This will be a real asset to us in the event we need them here on the Outer Banks.

The Dare County Forest Staff also supported the wild fire efforts across the state and across the nation. We had people on fires in Currituck County, the mountains of North Carolina, Florida, Texas and Northern California. By our staff helping out our neighbors, we were able to gain valuable experience we can use here in Dare County at no expense to us.

WILDLAND / URBAN INTERFACE (What is it?)

Wildland / Urban Interface is a zone where man made improvements intermix with the wildland environment. In other words it is where people build their houses in the woods. There is a growing national trend to get out of the rat race and move away from it all. With the hustle and bustle of today’s world, people want an escape, no one should realize that more than those of us who live in Dare County. That is the main business we are in, providing a temporary escape for our visitors. A lot of us have the same idea; to live out of site of it all.

The problem with that is, we have now added another fuel to wild fires when they occur. For years a woods fire could burn for weeks and never threaten a house or lives. Now every fire we respond to will effect homes, lives and property. Wildland fire fighters find themselves protecting structures and structural fire fighters find themselves fighting wildland fires. We are working hard to cross train with all of the fire departments so we all are prepared for what ever we may face.