A wildfire that has burned nearly 30,000 acres in North Carolina is being blamed for the smoky conditions today in the Richmond area.

Local police have been getting numerous calls today from people wondering if there is a fire in the area because they are smelling smoke and seeing low-lying haze.

There is a fire; it's just not here.

It's actually the one that has burned roughly 45 square miles since being detected earlier this week in Hyde County, N.C.

"I was surprised, too, but the upper-level winds are . . . carrying the smoke all the way up to the Richmond area," said James Foster, assistant forecaster in the National Weather Service's Wakefield office.

The fire has spread to three rural counties about 50 miles from the Outer Banks and doesn't appear close to being contained.

Likewise, Foster said, the smoke from the fire is likely to hover over the Richmond area for the immediate future.

"If the winds are from a favorable direction like it is today -- and that's going to be the general direction the next few days -- then that's going to be a problem," he said.

The latest report from the North Carolina Division of Forest Resources was that the fire was only 30 percent contained.

Some reports have said the fire has become so intense in some peat-bog areas that flames have reached 250 feet high.

Authorities have said the fire may have been started by a lightning strike.

-- Joe Macenka