ST. PAULS — Motorists are encouraged to proceed with caution Wednesday as heavy smoke continues to loom in the area of U.S. 301 and Blanchard Road following a Tuesday fire, according to Robeson County’s 911 director.

A fire burned Tuesday on the 20000 block of U.S. 301 in the St. Pauls area, but no injuries were reported, according to Chad Deese, Robeson County’s 911 director. First responders including Big Marsh Fire Department, N.C. Forest Service and others were on scene about 2 p.m. The scene was cleared at 11:19 p.m.

The fire came within 50 yards of some homes, said Harvey Inman, deputy fire chief at Big Marsh Fire Department. But, no structures were lost. After the scene was cleared, personnel responded to a call from a concerned resident about a “flare-up” in the area.

The Robesonian received a report of visibility issues from a motorist who was traveling on Oakland Road near St. Pauls High School Wednesday.

Deese said a report was made about visibility issues in the U.S. 301 and Blanchard Road area Wednesday morning.

“There’s no active traffic out there on that,” said Justin Hunt, assistant director of Robeson County Emergency Management’s Fire Marshal’s Office, referring to calls on the matter Wednesday afternoon.

The area which had burned once had several trees on it before they were cut, Inman said.

Seedlings that were replanted burned, said Robby Freeman, a NCFS ranger in Robeson County.

The fire started after a St. Pauls resident burning yard debris lost control of the fire, according to Freeman. The fire burned 87 acres, and the resident was issued a citation.

Inman thanked the N.C. Forest Service, North Carolina Department of Transportation, and St. Pauls City, Parkton and Lumber Bridge fire departments for their aid in containing the fire.

Without the aid of those departments, Big Marsh Fire Department wouldn’t have “been able to protect all those structures,” Inman said.