A brush fire in the Carolina North Forest just south of Seawell Elementary School continues to burn and smolder on Thursday morning, causing smoky conditions across Chapel Hill and Carrboro.
Updates from fire officials said the fire, which began Wednesday afternoon and firefighters responded to just before 4:30 p.m., is contained after an overnight effort — but the wooded area continues to smolder and will remain a challenge over the coming hours and days. Smoke from the area will continue to linger, leading the Town of Chapel Hill to urge community members who are sensitive to bad air quality to limit their time outdoors around Carolina North Forest.
After taking lead on Wednesday, Chapel Hill Fire crews turned over their coordination to the North Carolina Forestry Service and Carrboro Fire Department. Emergency crews closed Seawell School Road for several hours Wednesday night amid the initial response before reopening it to normal traffic Thursday morning.
“Our crews have this fire under control and it’s not threatening any buildings. We’re working carefully to extinguish it,” Chapel Hill Fire Chief Jay Mebane said in the town’s release.
With the fire’s proximity to three Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools campuses, the school district shared an alert Thursday morning saying Seawell Elementary School, Smith Middle School and Chapel Hill High School were operating normally. But the district also warned students and families of the smoky conditions and presence of fire-safety vehicles. Seawell Elementary and Smith Middle students will have indoor recess on Thursday because of the poor air quality, while Chapel Hill High students will also be warned to limit their time outdoors. CHCCS added that HVAC teams will visit all three campuses Thursday to inspect the buildings’ systems and ensure good indoor air quality.
Fire officials said while the fire is contained, there may be several days of smoldering that could create more smoke and lead to flare-ups in the forest. Community members are encouraged to call 911 only a fire is spotted outside of the burned area around Carolina North Forest — not solely to report smoke.
The brush fire comes amid a string of recent local fires, as Orange County and much of North Carolina suffer severe drought conditions. In addition to a house fire along Erwin Road on Monday that displaced eight people, one resident died from a blaze at their home on Redbud Lane on May 11, while two separate apartment fires in Carrboro displaced dozens of others on April 16 and May 4 — the latter of which also killed one resident. The Chatham County community has also experienced recent fires, with a house fire along Manns Chapel Road killing two residents in April and fire at a Pittsboro golf course destroying a building and fleet of golf carts on May 8.
Editor’s Note: This story was initially published on Wednesday, May 20 and has since been updated.
Featured photo via David Salvesen.
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