Camp Lejeune brush fire at 100% containment

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (WITN) - Wednesday Camp Lejeune Fire Chief Christopher Parker says 3,000 acres of land was burned in a brush fire on the base.

A spokesman from base command says that the fire is at 100% containment.

Parker says the fire started around 2:00 pm on Tuesday and says flames began to strengthen around 6 pm.

Marines Road is still closed as base command continues to discuss whether or not to reopen is because of lingering spoke in the area.

The heart of the fire was just off Marines Rd on Camp Lejeune near an Explosive Ordinance Disposal training ground. Parker says the fire likely started because of the combination of warm weather, lower humidity, and high winds.

“Well my first thought was I hope there’s no Marines getting trapped or caught behind it,” said Sneads Ferry resident Nancy Hendrick. Hendrick says she took video from her private dock Tuesday evening.

Officials say no damage was incurred to any structures in the area, and no Marines were injured.

Parker says 80 firefighters across 8 different agencies helped fight the flames.

“At one time, we had fire burning in two different directions. The little bit of rain that we thought we were going to see on Friday we seem to see those totals lessening specifically for this area. So until we have a significant rainfall better than 1/4 inch of rain although the fire may be out there’s still going to be a lot of smoldering which in turn long term I would say over the next five to seven days to be modest we’re going to be dealing with smoke in the air,” said Parker.

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