Alligator River Fire

If you live in North Carolina, you have probably gotten smoke blown in from the fire thats been burning for the past 5 weeks in the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge at the coast.  This refuge is one of the main ones we are working with for the internship, and we are living very close to it in Manteo.  In mornings and evenings the smoke gets dense on the island, and we can pretty much smell it all day.

Alligator River is the largest national wildlife refuge in North Carolina and southeastern Virginia, and the second largest in the southeastern United States.  It was also the first refuge established NOT to protect animal species, but actually to protect the pocosin habitat type.  Pocosin is a habitat characterized by deep organic soil, named for the Algonquian word for "swamp on a hill."  This fire-adapted wetland ecosystem is usually heavy in pine and shrubs, growing out of the boggy floor.  Pocosin is also found nowhere else in the world besides the North Carolina coast.

The 152,000 acre refuge has been on fire since May 5, when the fire was started via lightning strike.  The wild fire worked its way upward, eastward, and westward from its site of origin near the Parched Corn Bay.  By now it has consumed 45,000 acres of refuge, and is still on fire.  We have heard stories about fire fighters seeing flames more than 100-feet above the tree line and power lines sunk into the ground.  The deep organic soil can continue to burn below ground even after the trees have been extinguished, making it a difficult fire to fight.  The estimated cost of fighting the fire thus far is $7.4 million... and it's still burning.  The fire still has potential to enclose people living at Stumpy Point (blocking them from land escape) and crossing over to human civilization on the inland side.  Interested?  Follow up-to-date reports: http://www.inciweb.org/incident/2218/


Today we went for a bear watch at the refuge (saw 6 WOOO!!), and after drove over to see the fire damage from the road that runs straight through it.

The forest was so creepy (re: the elephant graveyard, Lion King)

It was so cool to see all of the green already emerging from the ashes!

Take a group of play workers to a burnt forest? What do you think would happen...