The recent combination of excessively cold temperatures followed by unseasonably warm weather—both accompanied by windy conditions—have contributed to a rash of fire incidents across the state. Stokes County Fire Marshal Frankie Burcham noted that a local news channel is reporting several North Carolina counties with fire troubles at this time.

Stokes County is no exception, having had fire problems of its own in the past week. The first episode occurred at West Stokes High School in King and did not actually involve fire, but still brought in fire departments from King, Rural Hall, Pinnacle, Sauratown, Vienna, and Forsyth County.

Stokes EMS and the Stokes County Fire Marshal’s office also responded to the call which came at approximately 3:15 a.m. on Thursday. The school’s heating and air conditioning system has a smoke detector tied into a fire alarm system which in turn reports to Central Receiving and finally to 911. This system alerted the proper officials of smoky conditions in the school, according to King Fire Chief Randy Williams.

Williams said that the first responders had to use forced entry to assess the situation at West. “There was a fairly heavy volume of smoke, especially in the cafeteria,” the chief explained. A high carbon monoxide level was also a hazard. School officials were contacted, and the school was put on a two-hour delay.

The cause of the problem was determined to be a boiler malfunction. Evidently the boiler, which is tied in with the heating system and also heats the school’s water, misfired. At that time, the excessive amount of fuel released caused dark smoke to be pulled in the heating/air conditioning system and dispersed throughout the building.

The Vienna Fire Department loaned their mobile ventilation unit which utilizes a huge fan to ventilate areas. Firemen went room to room throughout West Stokes, opening doors and windows. There was constant monitoring of the carbon monoxide levels.

When the levels were clear, fire officials turned the campus back over to school personnel. The boiler was put back online prior to the fire departments leaving, to make sure the situation was safe. “It was just one of those things,” commented Williams who said the boiler system is “not an antique system” and is well-maintained.

While the West Stokes incident was tapering down, a working fire was in progress off Dan River Shores Road in Danbury. Due to the extreme cold weather, the homeowner, who heats his house with a woodstove, was using a portable heater to keep his bathroom pipes from freezing. He was at work when the fire was reported at approximately 8 a.m. on Thursday.

By the time the first responders reached the scene near the end of Dan River Shores Road just yards from the Dan River, the house was already practically destroyed. It had been built on stilts due to occasional flood conditions, a situation that contributed to its rapid demise. According to Fire Marshal Burcham, the airflow under an elevated house “just helps it burn more quickly.”

Responding fire departments were Francisco, Danbury and Lawsonville. Burcham reminds residents to “be careful using portable heaters” when frigid weather sets in.

As the weather warmed up over the weekend, yet another fire was reported. On Saturday, a little after 2 p.m., the call went out that a fire was burning out of control on Jones Farm Road off Martin Luther King Drive in Walnut Cove. Fire departments from Walnut Cove, South Stokes, Pine Hall, Salem Chapel and Rural Hall responded. The Forestry Service also came out to assess the situation.

Earlier that day, the property owner had been burning papers in a fire pit. When the windy conditions later intensified, the fire rekindled. An outbuilding was destroyed, and about two acres of forest were burned. The only damage to the owner’s home was some melting of vinyl siding.

“The fire departments getting there so quickly,” Burcham explained, was the key to controlling a blaze that could’ve caused much more harm with the windy conditions.

Another fire was brought under control in the early part of this week on Dodgetown Road. The property owner was burning natural materials while working in his yard. “This warm weather is making everyone want to clean their yard,” Burcham commented. “Fuel on the ground is still very dry. People need to be very careful when they’re burning, especially when the wind is up.”

He advises that anyone planning to burn something outside check the webpages of either the fire marshal’s office or the forestry service. His office’s website can be accessed by going to Stokes County’s website at www.co.stokes.nc.us and clicking on the fire marshal link to the left. That will take the user to a site where another link will allow the viewer to see the present fire danger levels: low, moderate, or high. The link to the weather service will list air quality which also affects burning conditions.

Another important tool that monitors burning conditions is the new public safety information website which can also be reached by clicking on a link to the left of the homepage of the county website.