Great Dismal Swamp fire smolders on

NEWPORT NEWS, Va., June 19 (UPI) -- A stubborn 2,700-acre wildfire burned Thursday in the Great Dismal Swamp in coastal Virginia.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reported that the fire was about 23 percent contained. The fire has not grown significantly in size since Wednesday, WVEC.com said.

The wildfire, like a larger blaze to the south in the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in North Carolina, has been difficult to fight because it is burning underground in peat. Peat is soil made of decomposing plant matter used as fuel in many countries.

Both fires have been extremely smoky setting off smoke detectors in structures miles away. A Baltimore blogger reported smelling smoke from the fires in the city Monday.

A smaller fire began Monday in the Dismal Swamp when high winds blew burning embers across fire lines. By Wednesday, that blaze had been surrounded and contained at 35 acres, the Newport News Daily-Press reported.

The larger fire began June 9 when a piece of heavy equipment started burning. A state investigator was trying to determine the exact cause of that fire.

The 111,000-acre Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge is on the Virginia-North Carolina state line.