Crews respond to brush fire on Pea Island near refuge visitor center

A wind-fueled brush fire ignited Saturday night in Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge on the oceanside of N.C. 12 near the refuge visitor center.

Crews reported they had the fire knocked down at 7:08 p.m. The highway was closed to traffic in both directions until 7:30 p.m. when one lane reopened to alternating traffic.

Tami Lamz, an eyewitness who drove by just as firefighters were arriving on scene, said it appeared the fire had spread from near the edge of the pavement up to the dune line.

It was burning about 1/4 mile south of the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center, in an area with no structures roughly seven miles north of the village of Rodanthe on Hatteras Island.

Sustained south winds of 20 mph, with gusts near 30, were fanning the flames.

Large brush fire on Pea island shuts dow Hwy 12…. @SamWalkerOBX #obx pic.twitter.com/Jk3uNzLFdx

— Richard Adkins (@tvtog) January 12, 2020

This is a developing story, stay with OBX Today for updates.

This story originally appeared on OBXToday.com. Read More local stories here.