Halifax County forest rangers believe some 260 to 280 acres of timber were destroyed by a weekend wildfire in Scotland Neck.

Halifax County Ranger Jim Short said he planned to use GPS later to determine the exact acreage the fire off Highway 258 and Douglas Hill Farm Road burned.

Rangers and local volunteer fire departments protected some 28 to 30 structures. The fire did destroy an old house which Short said its owners had discussed tearing down.

“We’ve got a pretty good idea of where it started,” Short told rrspin.com this morning. “We had our investigator come to the scene.”

Short said rangers believe the fire was started by machinery or a smoker who threw down a cigarette.

Rangers received the call sometime between 1 and 1:15 p.m. Saturday. “It’s been really dry. We’ve reached a drought category,” Short said.

The drought index rangers use goes to 800. “It was already in the 700 area.”

Because firefighters and rangers concentrated on suppression efforts, a dollar value of the acreage damaged has not been estimated. “There was some timber old enough that it had been commercially thinned,” Short said.

Most of the younger stands were destroyed.

The Forest Service used three bulldozers and a scout plane. Volunteer departments from Scotland Neck, Darlington, Halifax and Tillery assisted.

While the fire in Scotland Neck raged, Northampton County rangers and volunteers contended with one on Highway 308 believed to be caused by catalytic converter. That fire burned 197 acres, Short said.

Saturday’s fire reminded Short of the 2008 wildfires. “The fire had extreme fire behavior. It was throwing embers 100 to 250 yards in front of the main fire.

Rangers and firefighters stayed on the scene until after midnight Saturday and came out Sunday at 8:30 a.m., staying until it started raining around 5 p.m.

Even with 2 inches of rain, however, there is still a danger of the fire restarting, Short said. “We still have hotspots in stump holes.”

Needles from the trees which were burned can fall into those spots and cause the fire to rekindle.

Short said a hog farm was threatened by the fire as were several houses. No evacuation orders were given.