THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 7, 1996 TAG: 9608070348
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CURRITUCK LENGTH: 61 lines
No longer will beach vacations or day trips to Currituck's Outer Banks include cozying up to a bonfire or carousing around the flames.
Beach fires are now forbidden.
After much debate, the Currituck County Board of Commissioners voted Monday night to outlaw bonfires on the shoreline between the Dare County and Virginia borders.
Last year the county started a permit system in Corolla to hold people more accountable for the open blazes. On weekends, it is not unusual for Corolla Fire and Rescue to issue 30 or 40 permits per night.
The popularity of bonfires also has brought problems. Before the permit system was started, vandalism and theft were rampant from fire lovers who used private fences, lawn furniture and even lifeguard stands for kindling.
Although county officials have said that problem has been brought under control through the permits, it apparently hasn't been extinguished.
Residents living north of the off-road ramp just past Corolla complained Monday that their property was being used to keep bonfires blazing.
Residue from fires also is causing problems. Recently a Corolla ambulance had a flat tire after driving over nails left at the scene of one bonfire, an official said.
``The debris on the beach is getting to be quite a problem,'' said Marshall Cherry, fire chief at Corolla Fire and Rescue.
Enforcement of permits and increased illegal drinking and drug use at bonfires had put further stress on police who patrol the streets and shores of the northern barrier island.
``It's a problem, and I just don't have enough manpower to enforce it,'' said Currituck County Sheriff Glenn Brinkley.
Deputy Sgt. Ken Kuykendall added that the attitudes of tourists vacationing in this increasingly popular, upscale area have changed in recent years.
``It doesn't seem like we're getting the same type of people anymore,'' Kuykendall said, referring to those less respectful of the law.
``They think they should be allowed to do anything they want to if they pay $5,500 to $6,000 a week for a place,'' he added.
Cherry also said people have become hostile when denied a permit because of easterly winds that could threaten nearby structures and beach vegetation.
In the past, communities north of Corolla had been exempt from a local ordinance requiring permits, and could burn nighttime blazes at their leisure.
But Monday's action will also ban bonfires from areas like Swan Beach and Carova.
The only exception now will be commercial fishermen.
That prompted Commissioner Ernie Bowden, a staunch defender of bonfires in his Fruitville Township, to quip: ``I can see everybody putting an anchor and a piece of net in the back of his truck.''
The commissioners later decided commercial fishermen would have to produce their commercial license to be permitted to light up.
During the vote to approve the amendment and ban bonfires, Bowden cast an emphatic ``No! Absolutely no!''
At an earlier work session, Bowden had produced a petition from Knotts Island residents against a bonfire ban. Residents had acted on their own initiative, the commissioner said.
Gene Gregory also sided with Bowden during the vote, but both men were defeated by affirmative votes from Commissioners Paul O'Neal, Owen Etheridge and Eldon Miller Jr. by CNB