Large fire expected to burn itself out on Brown's Island

As thousands of people head to the coast this Memorial Day Weekend, firefighters are monitoring a large fire on Brown's Island.

The uninhabited, privately-owned island caught fire sometime Thursday morning.

The Cape Lookout National Seashore shared photos on Facebook taken from atop the Cape Lookout Lighthouse.

From three miles away, an enormous plume of smoke was visible throughout Thursday.

Carteret County Emergency Services shared updates from the Forest Service throughout the day.

They say a flyover was done to check on island wildlife. Once the animals were spotted in safe areas like the marshes and the beach, firefighters turned the wildfire into a controlled burn which was expected to burn itself out overnight.

Brown's Island is located between Harker's Island and Marshallberg.