Lance Martin/Herald Senior Staff Writer

Lance Martin | Daily Herald A car belonging to Gary Lynch was gutted following Sunday's brush fires in Hollister. Advertisement

A smoky haze lingered over Tillery and Hollister Monday as trees and debris continued to smolder over hundreds of acres singed and scarred by fire Sunday.

Weary Tillery firefighters gathered at the fire station on N.C. Highway 561. Most had little or no sleep as they battled fires apparently spawned by sparks from a towed vehicle and pushed by heavy winds, said Jim Short, Halifax County ranger for the N.C. Forest Service.

He explained that in the nine counties covered by his district, Halifax was probably hit the hardest.

In the Tillery area alone, about $500,000 in property was saved through the efforts of the Forest Service and volunteer firefighters, Short said.

Scott Ludlum, a management ranger with the Forest Service, said Hollister was the hardest hit area in Halifax County. Some 1,500 acres of land were burned but $2.58 million worth of property was saved, Ludlum said.

In Northampton County, $3 million in property in the Pendleton area alone, including Willis Hare School, was spared. An irrigation pivot in Pendleton sustained $2,500 in damage, Assistant County Ranger Jason Miller said.

Across Northampton County, approximately 321 acres burned and $5 million in property was protected, Miller said.

The fires - 18 in Halifax and 17 in Northampton - kept firefighters on the run throughout Sunday and into the early morning hours Monday.

“You just do what you got to do,” said Jerol Hale, Tillery fire chief. “Some of us got some breaks.”

Hale said he has never seen fires of the magnitude that spread Sunday. “I hope I don't see it anymore.”

Forest rangers fought fires in Brinkleyville, Justice Branch Road, Tillery, Hollister and the Halifax County Airport.

The fire at Brinkleyville was caused by the heavy winds toppling trees into power lines, as was the fire on Justice Branch Road. The one at the airport was caused by a controlled burn on Thursday that appeared to be OK until the winds started up Sunday, Short said.

In the Hollister-Essex areas, several homes were threatened and evacuations were ordered, Short said.

The Forest Service put out red flag warnings for Sunday because conditions were ripe for fires. They didn't figure it would be this bad. “Some of the firefighters who have been in 20 years said they hadn't ever seen anything like this,” Short said. “Certainly I've never seen anything like it.”

The fires in the Hollister area were of the magnitude that aircraft was requested. The planes were grounded, however, because of the winds.

The fires could continue to smolder for several days or until the area receives significant rainfall, said Short.