BALD HEAD ISLAND, NC. — Around 2130 hours (ET), Bald Head Island volunteer firefighters responded to a house fire located in the 100 block of North Bald Head Island at Lighthouse Landing in Brunswick County, North Carolina.
It was reported by fire crews that there was not just one single house fire, but five engulfed and with up to 10 exposure buildings currently being threatened.
Mutual Aid units were being shuttled back and forth from the Southport area to the Island via Coast Guard, Sheriff boats, local ferry service, and other agencies offering up their boats or barges.
Command is in Unified Command with Bald Head Island DPS and Southport FD (HQ).
Resources include:
- Bald Head Island, Dept. of Public Safety Volunteer Firefighters
- Southport Firefighters (14 members)
- Leland Fire & Rescue
- Boiling Springs FD
- Bolivia FD
- Northwest FD
- Oak Island FD
- Shalotte FD
- Sunny Point FD (Boat? Tankers)
- Sunset-Harbor-Zion Hill (Tanker)
- Winnabow FD
- St. James Rescue
- US Coast Guard (ferried on their own boat personnel to the island)
- Bald Head Island Ferry (used for shuttling back and forth from Deep Point Marina)
- Brunswick County SO Marine Patrol Unit (their boat)
- State Fisheries (using their boats?)
Southport FD’s Chief Drew released a statement, “14 Firefighters have been assisting Bald Head Island with multiple residential structure fires with five that were completely ablaze. Fourteen firefighters from the Southport area had been deployed as mutual aid that arrived on a ferry across the waterside to the island. Per SFD’s Chief Drew states there has been no interruption in fire coverage for Southport or Caswell Beach and has adequate personnel at all of their stations.”
The initial call was said to have local firefighters dispatched at 1958 hours (ET) this evening at the Lighthouse Landing on Bald Head Island. Four structures were said to be fully involved upon arrival with an immediate need for all to respond as mutual aid. They would have to be ferried over to the island.
When the first mutual aid resources arrive, Command stated the fire was spreading to the Golf Course and into the words. Four structures were ablaze with water on three of the exposures. Primary search had been completed and reported as nothing found.
Unconfirmed speculation by Social Media users in this area says it started out as brush fires and due to drought conditions, fire fuels are heavy and making it easy for it to spread.
Primary and secondary searches were carried out with nothing being found.
ABOUT BALD HEAD ISLAND, NC
Bald Head Island is also known (historically) as Smith Island located on the east side of the Cape Fear River in Brunswick County, North Carolina (USA). It is a small and somewhat remote island that is the southernmost of the State’s cape islands and only accessible by ferry from the nearby town of Southport or by 4WD among the sliver of the beach from Fisher to the north. The Island is considered to be part of the Wilmington metro area.
There are very few cars on this five-square mile of land and the 179 residents get around by driving modified electric golf carts instead. This Island is nationally recognized for its sea turtle nesting activity.
To learn more about this beautiful North Carolinian island, visit their website here –> https://www.baldheadisland.com/
(c) 2021 NW Fire Blog | Published 11/20/2021 2000 PT
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