Hot coals blown from a towed pig cooker caused a series of wildfires in Nash and Halifax counties, state Forest Service rangers said this evening.
The coals created eight fires in Nash County starting in the Hickory community and nine in Halifax County along Highway 48 in the Ringwood community, Halifax Ranger Jim Short said.
All but three of the fires were small, Short said, with two major ones in Halifax County and one major one in Nash.
The forest service is considering filing charges, Short said.
In all, probably 8 to 10 acres of woodlands burned in the fires.
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Nash County Ranger Bill Lewis, who surveyed the damage in the Ringwood area, said, with the exception of the major one, the fires in his county were mostly one-tenth of an acre blazes.
Saturday and today made conditions ripe for wildfires, Assistant Halifax County Ranger Adam Greene said, with dry conditions and wind gusts pushing 30 miles per hour.
Rangers and volunteer firefighters had already fought two blazes in Hollister and one in the Rheasville community Saturday night. There was also a smaller fire in Scotland Neck this morning, he said.
Enfield and Arcola volunteer firefighters assisted rangers with the Ringwood fires and Ranger Mike Brown, a Franklin County forest fire equipment operator dug trenches to help keep the fires from spreading.
Greene said conditions this evening remain ripe for wildfires. “We’re not under a burn ban, but use extreme caution.”