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Croatan wildfire
TUE.| 5-16-23 | OPINION
On Friday, Ms.Boccia and I were chatting, as we usually do during lunch, when she brought up a wildfire close to her home which is in Croatan. She showed me the picture that her boyfriend had sent her and the image showed ash and smoke everywhere. The air was thick and dark and I could see the ash falling from the sky. When we were talking about this, I was concerned for her but was relieved that I did not live in that area and that it most likely wouldn't affect me. But, to my surprise, when I was out in the courtyard during fourth period, I saw ash falling from the sky and a veil of smoke mixing with the clouds.
My friends and I were astonished to see the state of the atmosphere and were wondering what could have caused this until I remembered my lunch conversation with Ms.Boccia. I was confused how the fire in Croatan could have caused this air quality disaster in Greenville. We looked further into the issue and discovered that a series of storms
Graphic by Jordyn Godwin
has caused major winds to carry the smoke, ash and debris produced by the wildfire southeast to areas including New Bern, Craven County and Greenville.
Though the smoky sky didn’t pose any direct harm or inconvenience to me, I found it very bothersome. My first gripe with the sky is that the very thin haze made Greenville drivers lose their minds. After school on Friday, I had to run a few errands and as I was leaving my final stop, target, I witnessed a hit and run in the parking lot. I got into my car after I left the store and before reversing I sawoo this very large cadillac exiting their parking spot and as they turned to leave they brushed the front bumper of the prius parked next to it. Though the cadillac suffered minimal damage, this swift brush knocked the bumper of the prius to the ground. Without hesitation, the cadillac left the parking lot as if it had witnessed nothing. The young girl who’s pruis fell victim to this event came outside shortly after and I assume she called her parents or the police because she was on the phone with tears in her eyes for about a minute before she got in her car and waited to be rescued. Other than this particular cadillac, there was also a tremendous amount of speeding and swerving as the sun began to set and this tiny bit of smoke was really not affecting visibility severely and I felt like people had just lost it.
The visibility was not majorly affected but, there was an immediate and noticeable difference in the air quality. The air both smelled nasty and felt nasty. When I was outside the first time I accidentally inhaled a piece of ash and I would not recommend the feeling. It felt like I was inhaling second hand incense smoke if the scent of it was charcoal.