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PLEASE BE AWARE: Wildland fire engines and large equipment will continue to be on roads in the fire area and traveling to and from assignments on US Hwy 70 between Havelock and New Bern.  

Please slow down and use caution when driving near them.  

Weather: High pressure is moving through this area over the next two days keeping things dry through the end of the week.  Light southwesterly winds are expected at 6 to 12 mph, shifting to a southerly trend on Friday. Winds may become gusty at times Thursday and Friday. High humidity and light winds may support favorable conditions for development of reduced visibility and fog Thursday night into Friday morning. The next chance for wetting rainfall comes this weekend and early next week. 

Acreage: 32,400 acres; Containment: 85%; Personnel and Equipment: 203 total personnel; 1 helicopter, 10 engines, 2 water tenders, 2 Type-2 and 5 Type-3 tractor plow units, 2 drones, 2 track-mounted engines and 1 ambulance.  

Yesterday: Crews continued to set up pumps and equipment to prepare for additional flooding operations in the coming days to raise the water table in the southwestern portion of the fire.  The drones equipped with infrared cameras detected heat sources that the crews were able to respond to and extinguish.  Isolated areas of ground fire will still require long term monitoring and flooding operations to raise surface water levels to extinguish ground fire and alleviate fire and smoke concerns for the local communities and infrastructure.  

Today: Aviation and ground resources will continue to monitor fire activity to identify hot spots and areas of concern. Mop up operations with engines, crews, and heavy equipment continues in the northern, southwestern and southeastern portions of the fire. Work on contingency lines in the northwestern portion of the fire will start tomorrow. Flooding operations for areas of ground fire in the southeastern portion of the fire will continue. Preparations for additional piping and pumping of water continue in the southwestern portion of the fire. 

• Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR): A “TFR” is in place effective May 9, 2023 from 6 AM to 2 PM local time, and altitude from the surface up to and including 1000 feet, daily until further notice, to allow for safe operations of the drone equipped with infrared to detect heat sources. The lower ceiling than the TFR last week is in consideration of Military flights out of Cherry Point. Complete information is at https://tfr.faa.gov/save_pages/detail_3_2893.html 

• Closures: The road closures on Forest Service Road 203 (Holston Creek Road) and Black Swamp Road remain in effect. Updates to road closures surrounding the fire are at https://drivenc.gov/.    

• Air quality: Information on current air quality data for North Carolina is at https://www.airnow.gov/.   

• Firewise: Information on preparing your home and property to reduce the risk from fire can be found at https://www.nfpa.org/Public-Education/Fire-causes-and-risks/Wildfire/Firewise-USA  

• Donations: Those interested in donating to firefighters, please consider assisting your local fire departments and /or the Wildland Firefighter Foundation https://wffoundation.org