A windy Saturday morning was the fuel a controlled burn needed to spread out of control and become a frantic scene quickly. A man was burning debris near abandoned mobile homes on Theodore Drive, a private dirt road off J Burns Road near Woodlake, when the fire quickly got out of control and spread to the two nearby homes.
Emergency units were dispatched to the fire just before 11 a.m., and incoming personnel reported seeing a column of black smoke visible from Highway 690.
The first truck on the scene reported a large outside fire with at least two homes on fire and two torn-down structures burning.
The fire in the first home was quickly controlled, and the structure remained intact. The fire also damaged the second home after the fire quickly spread to a tree beside the home. Both homes were believed to be unoccupied and abandoned.
NC Forestry Service was investigating the fire, and a plow was also brought in to assist.
~Article, photo and video by Sandhills Sentinel reporter Daniel Gwyn.
