Clayton Fire Burns 60 Acres

A NC Forestry Service bulldozer plows a line around a fire that burned 60 acres of land off Cornwallis Road on Monday.

Clayton Fire Chief Lee Barbee says a grass and woods fire that started Monday afternoon burned nearly 60 acres of land. The NC Forestry Service is still trying to determine what sparked the fire around 4:30pm, but Clayton Fire Marshal Tony Atkinson doesn’t believe the origin is suspicious. When fire crews from Clayton, Cleveland and Garner arrived on the scene, about 5 to seven acres were already burning, Chief Barbee said. Forestry officials brought in two plows to contain the blaze behind the Hillington Estates Subdivision off Cornwallis Road near the Johnston-Wake County line. Although the fire was contained Monday night, Clayton firemen returned to the scene Tuesday to put out some hot spots still smoldering.