Carolina Burning
BARRY FUREY
Firehouse Magazine
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Oct. 30 has long been labeled "Hell Night" in many communities, due to the extraordinary number of serious fires that have traditionally occurred on the day before Halloween. However, Feb. 22 may now be considered "Hell Day" in North Carolina for much the same reason. The 24-hour period that set records for high temperatures also spawned four incidents that between them left five people dead, destroyed or damaged 50 structures, and burned more than 860 acres. Accompanying the unseasonably mild 74-degree weather were gusty winds up to 33 mph and 14% relative humidity, all of which factored heavily in two of the calls.
Shortly before sunrise, Durham firefighters were dispatched to a fire in a single-family residence on Grant Street that resulted in the death of two children. For departments across the state, it was an ominous start to what would be a memorable day. In McDowell County, a brushfire covering 700 hundred acres caused the evacuation of at least 15 homes and continued burning throughout the night. At around 3 P.M., units in Hoke County responded to a grass and woods fire that has been attributed to the backyard burning of trash. Before the fire was brought under control, multiple departments were operating at the scene and a dozen homes were involved. These were just two of 130 wildfires that broke out in North Carolina that day.
Around the same time, at 2:54, first-due Raleigh companies were enroute to a fire in an occupied multiple dwelling at 305 Roselle Court on the east side of the city. There were reports of possible explosions, and crews encountered a working fire on arrival. A second alarm was transmitted shortly thereafter. One juvenile and two adult victims were found inside the building; however, it was subsequently ruled that the deaths were the result of a murder-suicide and were not caused by the fire.
