Cary home fire spotlights dangerous July 4 heat wave
A back-deck fire on Oakmere Drive sent Cary crews into 103-degree heat on July 4, underscoring the risk of holiday cooking in dry conditions.
Just before 6 p.m. on July 4, flames broke out at a Cary home on Oakmere Drive, near Chatham Street and Old Apex Road, after a family was cooking on a back deck. No injuries were reported, but the fire forced crews to work through dangerous heat as they contained the blaze.
Cary Fire Chief Mike Thompson said the incident showed why outdoor cooking needed close attention during the holiday, especially with dry conditions making the situation more hazardous. Firefighters needed extra crews so personnel could rotate away from the scene and rest in air-conditioned vehicles.
The Cary Fire Department has about 245 employees serving about 192,000 residents across a 58-square-mile area. Raleigh reached 103 degrees that day, breaking its previous daily record high, and Fayetteville also set a record at 100 degrees.
Wake County opened cooling stations starting July 1 and planned to keep them running through at least July 6 after the National Weather Service forecast heat indices well over 100 degrees through the holiday weekend. The county later extended the stations through at least July 11.
Cary also warned residents ahead of the holiday that if they saw a fire or emergency situation, they should call 911 immediately. The town had already modified some Independence Day plans because of forecast heat index values, and the North Carolina Symphony could not perform at Cary’s July 4 celebration at Koka Booth Amphitheatre because of forecast record-breaking heat.
This article was produced by Prism’s automated news system from verified source data, official records, and press releases, then run through automated quality and moderation checks before publishing. The system is built and supervised by the people who set the standards it runs under. Read our full AI policy.
Did this article answer your question?
