ROCKINGHAM — Local crews with the N.C. Forest Service dealt with back-to-back wildfires Tuesday afternoon.
The first was around 1:45 p.m. behind the shopping center that includes Harbor Freight, Ollie’s Bargain Outlet and Los Mariachis.
County Ranger Brandon Van Buren said that fire was started by homeless individuals about 30 feet into the woodline.
Crews plowed a line with a bulldozer through the woods to keep the fire from spreading into the swamp.
The fire burned nearly 2 acres, according to Van Buren.
Van Buren said this was the second fire in the same area within the past six months. He added that the NCFS is prepping the area to prevent future fires from spreading.
According to local officials, there are homeless encampments in the wooded areas along the South Prong of Falling Creek and railroad tracks between U.S. 74 Business and Mill Road.
Although a small fire on Dec. 13 behind the former JP Stevens plant on Mill Road was caused by a power line, the ranger said there were several homeless people nearby who scattered when crews arrived.
Van Buren estimates that 40% of the wildfires in Richmond County this year have been caused by the homeless, mostly in the East Rockingham area.
Just as crews had the first fire contained, they responded to another near the intersection of Sandhill Game Management and Gibson Nursery roads, east of Ellerbe.
That fire was caused after a property owner left burning debris unattended in his backyard. Close to 3 acres were burned.
According to the NCFS, there were 39 wildfires that burned 220.5 acres of private or state-owned land across the state from Dec. 1-11.
The number of wildfires has increased from 4,588 burning 15,706 acres in 2024 to 6,158 torching more than 30,000 acres this year — with two weeks left to go.
The year with the most wildfires since 1928 was 1981 with 8,746.
